Global Defense: Out of Town Visitors
by Wes Imlay
Summary: It has been six months since the events of 'Apotheosis' and it now appears that a criminal syndicate on Canceron has forged an alliance with the Soldiers of the One, how strong the alliance is or what their plans are remains to be seen.
1. Chapter 1: Drinking With A Stranger

Out of Town Visitors:

Written by: Wes Imlay

(Author's Note: This story takes place four months after the events of 'Apotheosis' and includes characters from the 'Global Defense' series of stories written by The Wilky Bar Kid.)

Chapter One: Drinking With a Stranger:

Six months after the events of 'Apotheosis':

Campania Hotel, Caprica City:

Ian Grant, Andrea Randle, and Bruno Milone were situated in a surveillance van outside of the Campania Hotel in downtown Caprica City packing up their equipment. They knew their boss was on the way and he might not be too pleased with the results tonight. A steady rain had begun to pelt the metal skin of the van, and by the sound of it they were in for quite the storm tonight.

Aaron Brannigan had stationed them and the van here on McGregor Street across from the hotel where it was rumored a deal was going to take place between the STO and the Canceron-based crime syndicate known as the Basileus.

"How much longer until he's here?" Randle asked her two fellow agents.

"Not too sure, he'll probably give us till 10:00 or 10:30 and let us know," Milone said as he looked at his watch and saw that it was now 9:54 pm.

"Intel didn't give us too much to go on; we don't even know who the representative of the Basileus is. Why are we even doing surveillance on an off-world organization?" Randle asked.

"It may be an organization based 'off-world' but if there is even the hint of an alliance with the STO then we need to find out and stop it. The problem is that people at the GDD have not paid much attention to Canceron and now it's coming back to bite us in the ass," Grant said as he looked to across the street to see if any identified STO members showed up or if anyone who was considered a 'confirmed' member of the Basileus showed up.

"You just knew they would pick Brannigan for a job like this," Milone added.

"That's true, with the case that made his career sixteen years ago," Randle said.

Aaron Brannigan had been the agent responsible for ending a human trafficking ring known as the Aret. It had taken almost eight years of searching down every lead that came across his desk, but Brannigan had managed to track down the group's headquarters. They were based out of an old shipping warehouse on the Caprica City waterfront in the Macedon district. The result was the arrest of Rosella Ballard and David Knapp, bringing an end to the trafficking ring until the next criminal entrepreneur found the inspiration to try to make the business work without getting caught.

There was a knock on the side door of the van facing away from the hotel, Randle looked out the window and saw who it was. Without saying a word she opened the door and took a step back. Brannigan stepped into the van looking as though he had just been in a storm.

"It's started raining as I was making my way here," he said as he took his rain jacket off and put it on a nearby chair.

"I hate to tell you this boss, but there's been no activity here. If the Basileus is in the area they may have found a way to fly under our DRADIS," Grant said.

"They're here, I can feel it in these old bones," Brannigan said. He was in his late fifties and at times found that he was looking forward to retirement, he was fifty-six and sixty-two seemed so close yet so far away.

"I trust your instincts," said Milone hinting he had more to say.

"But?" said Brannigan brushing the rainwater from his sleeve.

"But, given that so far they've slipped by us so many frakking times; do you think they could have a source inside the GDD to tip them off?" Milone asked.

"Doubtful, but I've seen stranger things," Brannigan said as he checked his watch, "I'm going down the street to Adnah for a drink and get some rest at our room. Call my mobile number and let me know if anything develops."

Adnah was a bar on the bottom floor of the King Erik Motel, located a couple of blocks from the Campania and not quite as nice. The GDD had appropriated a room for the four agents in charge of the stake out, and it was not uncommon for one of them to go off-duty and get some rest.

The three agents each told him they understood, and it was then that Brannigan put his raincoat back on and left the van out of the same door he had entered. He only had a couple of blocks to walk until he was at Adnah, the only thing that really slowed him was the rain that he had to fight against. It was a storm by any stretch of the imagination; he only hoped it would not keep his people from sighting the representative of the Basileus when either he or she arrived at the Campania Hotel.

After fighting through the sheets of rain that had slowed him down he saw the familiar redbrick façade with the neon letters that spelled 'Adnah'. He pushed through the door and immediately his senses picked up on the smell of alcohol and various pub foods as well as the haze of cigarette smoke that seemed to create a light fog in the air.

He walked up to the bar where there was a middle-aged man sitting with two other men who seemed to be hovering nearby with looks on their faces that seemed decidedly less-than-friendly.

"What will it be?" the bartender asked as soon as Brannigan had taken a seat.

"I'll have a bottle of Blackburn," Brannigan said, drawing a nod from the bartender who went to get the bottle of beer that had been requested.

"I take it you're a dark stout kind of man," the gentleman sitting a couple of seats down said.

"A night like this it just feels right, what are you having?" Brannigan asked.

The gentleman held up his glass and examined the contents, "This is a single malt whisky from Canceron, and it's from a brand called Anem. It's a personal favorite of mine."

"How is it you have an affinity for Canceron whisky?" Brannigan asked, the law enforcement side taking over.

"I'm from there actually. I live the city of Iopolis. I was born near there."

"I see," Brannigan said before adding, "exactly where you born?"

"A small city called Litchfield, when I was eighteen I was sent to Iopolis to learn a trade."

"What is it that brings you to Caprica?" Brannigan asked as he tried to find out what this man was doing here.

"Business," the gentleman said.

"Business…what kind of business?"

"Merchandising, I run a successful business on Canceron and I'm here to see about expanding into Caprica."

The bartender arrived with Brannigan's bottle and he took a drink from it before asking, "How do you avoid running into the Basileus?"

The man looked stunned, "You know about them?"

Brannigan nodded, "I've been investigating reports of them here in Caprica City."

"Does that mean you're police?"

Brannigan reached into his pocket and the two men not far from them began to come closer.

"Are these two friends of yours?" Brannigan asked.

"These two are part of my security team; with me are Weston Daniels and DeAndre Trevino."

Brannigan did not look fazed as he fished his Global Defense Department credentials out of the pocket of his jacket, "Aaron Brannigan of the GDD."

"My name is Adam Wright," the man said as he extended a handshake to the GDD officer.

"You know it might not be such a great idea to walk around here with a couple of security guards like these," Brannigan said with a nod of his head towards Daniels and Trevino.

"The crazy thing is Brannigan it's a necessity on Canceron," Wright said.

"You may not have realized this yet, but this isn't Canceron!"

Wright took another sip of his whisky, "You're right, you can't get a decent burger anywhere in this town."

"That's because you have no idea where to look," Brannigan said.

"You may have a point there, but then again there's as much debate over the best hamburgers is over which type of hair color is best to have in regards to women."

"In that case Wright, what type of woman do you prefer?" Brannigan was interested in hearing what he had to say.

"Red heads are a personal favorite, two of my ex-wives had that hair color," Wright said before taking another sip of his whisky.

"Not bad, but for me I have to with blondes. My first wife was a brunette and then I married a blonde and have been happy ever since," Brannigan said.

Wright raised his glass in salute, "I tip my hat to you sir!"

"How many times have you been married?" Brannigan asked after he raised his beer bottle in the same gesture of salute.

"Enough times, I'm on my fourth marriage and let's just say it's hard to find a woman who can put up with my lifestyle," Wright said as he began to fish for something in the inside pocket of his jacket.

"You're telling me that it's hard to be married to a businessman?" Brannigan asked disbelievingly.

"I put in long hours at the office, and it seems my work is always finding a way to follow me home. My line of work is not all fun and games."

"Is that a fact?"

Wright shrugged his shoulders, "It's like me trying to tell you that there's life after death. Do you believe that?"

"Let's just say that I'm a man who needs evidence before I believe something. Perhaps it's that investigator side of me. What about you?" Brannigan asked.

Wright seemed to have found what he was looking for inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, "Damned if I know."

"My younger son is a member of the Caprican Army. He's stationed out of Delphi at Fort Callaway, says when he's out of the Army he'll take a job with the Caprica City Police Department. I say to him, 'James you're wasting your time when you can do something with GDD that actually makes a difference.'"

"Kids just don't want to listen. Henry, my oldest son, doesn't know it yet but I plan to have him take over for me. I'll do what I can to groom him as my successor. It's the Canceron way, the eldest child of the family takes over the family business. If he or she has children then the oldest of the children takes over."

Brannigan shook his head, "I haven't heard anything like that here on Caprica."

"Not every colony is the same. How long have you been with the GDD?" Wright asked.

"Twenty-three years, two more and then I can retire," Brannigan said.

"Any plans after that?"

Brannigan shrugged his shoulders, "I thought about moving down to Tybee Island and spend my time deep sea fishing or spending time on the beach with my wife."

Wright was going to say something when his mobile phone began to ring. He checked the caller id and answered it, "Hello."

Brannigan watched as Wright told whoever it was to proceed with the negotiations and to not close the deal on unfavorable terms.

"Forgive me Brannigan, one of my representatives has begun a negotiation with a client over in Zebulon Springs and wanted to let me know that she was ready to proceed on my orders."

"Awfully strict with your people aren't you?" Brannigan asked.

Wright shrugged his shoulders, "Perhaps I am, but I get results by driving them the way that I do."

"I suppose, by the looks of things your way is serving you well."

"Mr. Wright, you're supposed to be at the spaceport for your flight in half an hour," Trevino said as he walked up to where the two men were seated.

"Indeed I do, thank you Mr. Trevino," Wright said.

"I'm heading to get some sleep, I have to stay here tonight," Brannigan said as he downed the rest of his beer.

"Problems with the wife?" Wright asked.

Brannigan nodded, "Yeah, her sister came over to visit and complained about me watching the Bucs/Twins game. I told her it was my house so she needed to mind her own frakking business. Liv didn't like that too much so she locked me out of my own house. Women, eh?"

Wright nodded, "Yeah they are strange sometimes, we men may never understand them."

Brannigan reached for his wallet but Wright plopped several cubit notes onto the bar, "On me, for the conversation and so you can save your money for another night here if your wife hasn't forgiven you."

"Thank you Mr. Wright, good luck your business dealings," Brannigan said as he extended a handshake.

Wright accepted and the two men shook hands, "You as well Agent Brannigan."

01:48 Hours:

The mobile phone on the night stand began to vibrate loudly, rousing Brannigan from his slumber.

"Hello," he said groggily as he put the phone to his ear.

"Boss, this is Randle…we have something suspicious going on."

Brannigan was up out of the bed and putting his jacket on, "What's going on?"

"A woman walked in carrying a messenger bag and sat down in the first floor restaurant with man who had been sitting there for at least three hours. Right now they are talking but there is the occasional look around to make sure they're not noticed," Randle said as though she was giving a play-by-play.

"Keep an eye on them and I'll be there in a few minutes. Don't make a move without me!" Brannigan had left the room and going down the stairs in a hurry.

As he got closer to the van he managed to slow down so that he would not draw suspicion from passersby. He knocked on the surveillance van and was once again inside with the three agents under his command.

"What do we have?" Brannigan asked.

Milone was the first, "We have identified the man she's meeting with. His name is Maurice Gordon, and while he has not been identified as STO there have been reports from various acquaintances that he is sympathetic to their cause."

"Good, now who's the woman, is the STO or Basileus?" Brannigan knew in his gut that something was going on here but he wanted to know who these two people were before he acted.

"Boss, the woman is Saranna Preece and according to the Canceron Global Police she is a known member of the Basileus," Grant said.

"Great, but what does she do with the Basileus?" Brannigan asked, it was important that he know exactly what her role in the crime syndicate was.

"She is a high-level negotiator, mainly is involved with making deals for weapons, explosives, and technologies," Grant said as he mimicked sending a pyramid ball into the goal.

"Let's go bring them in, Milone I want you to put in a call to headquarters and see if we can get two interrogation rooms ready for them," Brannigan said as he exited the van and followed by Randle and Grant.

The three walked into the main lobby of the Campania Hotel with the rain dripping off of their coats, an officious looking night manager came up to them.

"Can I help you?" he asked in a formal sounding voice.

"We need to get into the Hesperian Restaurant," Brannigan said as he pushed his way past the manager followed by Randle and Grant.

"I'm afraid not, you must have reservations," he said as he looked the three up and down, "not to mention that you are clearly not dressed for eating at such a fine establishment."

Brannigan pushed the man up against a wall and pulled out his GDD credentials, "This should do."

The manager's eyes grew wide and all he could do was nod his head.

As they walked to the entrance to the Hesperian Brannigan flashed his credentials to the woman standing at the door. She simply nodded and opened the door for the three to enter, he made a point to put his credentials away for the time being.

There were not many people there in the restaurant, probably owing to the late hour. Brannigan looked and spotted Preece and Gordon sitting at the table. They looked when they entered, and Brannigan felt a sense of relief that he did not have his credentials out. The three agents made eye contact and as though they were rehearsing an understood act they merely walked around like they were trying to find a seat. They made it to a place near where the two suspects were seated and looked ready to sit down as they noticed Gordon was eyeing them suspiciously.

Brannigan made a motion for Randle to have a seat and for a moment it looked like her and Grant were arguing over who sat by the window. It seemed to be enough for Gordon to turn his attention back to Preece. When they were no longer focusing on them, Brannigan moved his hand in front of his body and counted down from three to one using his fingers.

The three agents moved to the table the suspects were sitting at and pointed their weapons.

"GDD, stay right there!" Brannigan yelled as he fished his credentials back out and flashed it at the suspects.

One Hour Later, GDD Headquarters:

The four agents brought Preece and Gordon into the headquarters where they were met by Assistant Director Paul Bertram was waiting for them.

"Hell of a job there Brannigan," Bertram said as he shook Brannigan's hand.

"Thank you sir, my people and I will handle the interrogations," Brannigan said.

Bertram shook his head, "I pulled Bowman and Ratliff out of bed for this one. No disrespect to you, but I think they'll be better suited for a job like this."

Brannigan wanted to argue but he realized that it would probably not be wise.

Bertram seemed to sense this, "Listen, you and your team put a lot of work into this so I want the four of you to go to your homes and get some rest. Gods knows you all look like this stakeout ran you ragged. Come back here in the morning and I'll let you know what intel Bowman and Ratliff were able to get from these two."

Bowman Residence

0225hrs

The phone rang out in the darkness of the unlit bedroom causing the two occupants asleep in the bed to stir. Jack Bowman groaned in annoyance while his wife, Emma, buried her face into the pillow. The ringing refused to subside and so he threw the blanket off his body and sat on the side of the bed before reaching over for the light switch.

"I bet that's Duram," moaned Emma with a muffled voice from where her face was now firmly pressing in against her pillow.

It was nothing unusual for Special Agent Jordan Duram to call at all hours of the day or night. Jack Bowman was a G.D.D. Agent assigned to Duram's team to combat the S.T.O. and he was a harsh task master.

Bowman picked up the phone and silenced its incessant ringing by hitting the answer button and holding it to the side of his head.

"Hello," said Jack groggily.

"It's Bertram. I'm sorry for waking you Agent Bowman but I need you for an assignment that requires you're immediate attention. I shall be calling on Agent Ratliff shortly. Can you make it into headquarters in about an hour?"

"Yes sir," replied Jack without properly thinking about his answer.

"Good, I'll explain everything when you get here. Once again I'm sorry for waking you."

With no other words spoken Bertram hung up the phone. Jack placed the handset back down on the cradle and it beeped in acknowledgement. He turned to speak to his wife half asleep, wondering how he was going to tell her.

"You're going in aren't you?" she asked from under her blanket that was now folded over her head in a vain effort to block out the light.

"Sorry babes," said Jack.

She threw the blanket back down to reveal her cringing face. "Will you be back by morning?"

"I don't know. That was Assistant Director Bertram so it could be anything. I'll call you when I know more."

He leaned down and kissed her apologetically as she began to utter, "Remember when you wanted to be a truck driver? Why don't you do that?"

Jack laughed and kissed her again before getting up and reaching for his clothes he said, "I love you."

She didn't reply. She had already gone back to sleep.

Kearsarge Towers, Claire Ratliff's Apartment,

The phone on her nightstand began to ring, bringing Claire Ratliff out of a fitful sleep. She fumbled with the bedside lamp and gave her eyes a moment to adjust to being in a lighted room.

"This had better not be a wrong number," she grumbled as she reached for the phone.

"Who is it?" the man beside her asked.

"Well If I was psychic enough to know that then I wouldn't need the frakking phone would I?" she snapped out of frustration as she picked up the incessantly ringing phone.

"Agent Ratliff, this is McClain," the man said when he realized he had her on the phone.

"What is it McClain?" she asked. Darien McClain was the Agent who handled most of the affairs for Assistant Director Bertram.

"Director Bertram wants you here as soon as you can get here, Brannigan made a bust and Agent Bowman and yourself have been requested to question the two suspects we have in custody."

"Got it, I'll get dressed and be there ASAP," Ratliff said as she put the receiver back in its cradle.

"I take it duty calls for you," the man beside her in bed asked.

"That it does, at least we got to have an actual date and end it on a high note," she said as she leaned over and kissed him on the lips.

"Sure you don't have time for a quickie?" he asked with a sly grin.

"Sorry Tiger, but it's Bertram wanting me there and he wanted me there five minutes ago," Ratliff said as she got out of bed and began to put her clothes on.

"I'd offer to come with you if I thought it would help," he said as he sat up on the side of the bed.

Ratliff walked over and put her hands on his shoulders, "Listen Perry, we have a delicate situation here. The last thing I need is for our friends at the GDD to know that we have this little fling going on."

"You make it sound like it's a danger," Perry Ridgeway, a fellow GDD agent said.

"Only to make it more exciting," Ratliff said as she leaned over and kissed him again, "for now we have a good thing going here and I'm alright with the status quo."

"Does Bowman know who you spent the evening with?" he asked her.

She grinned at him devilishly before answering simply, "He's my partner."

Ridgeway held up his hands in defeat, "In that case I won't argue, I'll lock up for you and you can give me a call when this is over so we can pick up where we left off."

"Sounds like a plan," Ratliff said with a smile as she finished getting ready to go and left the apartment with her keys in hand.

Two Hours Later, GDD Building Main Lobby:

"Bowman, there you are!" Ian Grant said from where he was standing over at the main reception desk.

"Morning Grant, care to fill me in on what's going on here?" Bowman said as he walked up and shook Grant's hand. "Or is the GDD still determined to have me end up a divorcee?"

"Well y'know I'm supposed to have gone home too but I just happened to remember I had promised Heather that I'd come by and have a chat with her when my shift ended," Grant said as he looked at the receptionist and smiled.

"Is that right, so tell me Miss Owens is Agent Grant telling the truth?" Bowman said to Heather Owens.

"It's true, but I never thought he'd actually come by here and do it. That's how rumors get started in a place like this," Owens said with a laugh.

"In that case, I'd best get away from you before people start talking about us using words like group and marriage," Grant said as he motioned for Bowman to follow him.

When they were out of earshot of Owens Bowman whispered, "So Ian, exactly what is so special about tonight? I was at home asleep when I got the call that Bertram wanted us here."

"We go back a while, right?" Grant asked.

Bowman nodded, "It's about what…three or four years since we were on the Carani case over in Oxford. Yeah you can say we go back a ways."

"Good," Grant said before he hesitated briefly, "We picked up a suspected member of the STO and a woman rumored to be part of some crime syndicate back on Canceron."

One of Bowman's eyebrows arched, "Canceron, what the frak are a group of Canceron crims doing on Caprica?"

"Damned if I know but I'm assuming that's why you and Ratliff were pulled out of bed and called here."

"You knew about Ratliff?" Bowman asked.

Grant flashed a sly smile, "There are things you overhear when you're busy flirting with the cute receptionist at Main Reception."

"Impressive, anything else I should know about?" Bowman asked.

"Yeah, it seems word of our arrest has already reached the Canceron Embassy. They're sending one of their people over to make sure our prisoner is treated correctly."

"That's just great, who is it?" Bowman asked.

"Captain Christopher England of the Canceron Global Police, it seems they have an investigative team at their embassy to assist when one of their citizens runs into trouble with us."

"More info gleaned from flirting with the receptionist?" Bowman asked.

Grant simply shook his head, "Brannigan told me as he was leaving the building, let's just say he referred to the Captain in ways I couldn't repeat in polite society."

"Understood, well let me go find Claire so we can get to work on this. Get some rest and maybe one day you can come over and visit, Emma still asks if you've settled down yet," Bowman said.

Grant chuckled, "One day I will, unless she already has someone in mind to set me up with."

"Not that I'm aware of," Bowman said as he shook hands with Grant and headed to the stairs that led to the second floor of the lobby.

He headed down a nearby corridor marked 'Authorized Personnel Only' and navigated the mazes of hallways before he came to a door marked 'Interrogation Ward Four'. He opened the door and walked in to find Ratliff indulging in a decidedly large cup of coffee.

"I take it you're still waking up," Bowman teased.

"You can say that, this is too early in the morning for me. I need to get at least a good power nap before I head into a situation like this," she said after taking a long sip from her cup.

"Our day is going to get better," Bowman began before adding, "One of the suspects brought in is a Canceron citizen and the embassy is sending one of their people to 'assist' us in the investigation."

"Frak me," Ratliff said. "Politics and coffee; an explosive combination."

"We have to play nice on this one I'm sure, the higher-ups seem to approve of this or else they'd have told the Cancerons what they could do with their concerns," Bowman said as he took the seat by Ratliff.

"I wonder what they'd have said if we had told them that," Ratliff said with a wicked smile on her face.

The door opened and in walked a man in a black business suit with a red tie. He looked at them with a set of brown eyes that could not conceal the amusement he seemed to take in from the look on the GDD agents' faces.

"Captain Christopher England," he declared as he waited for the agents to say something.

Bowman and Ratliff stood up and walked over to him.

"Jack Bowman and this is my partner, Claire Ratliff," Bowman said as the agents exchanged handshakes.

"I suppose now that the formalities are over we can get to work, I believe we have a Canceron citizen I need to meet with," England said.

Bowman checked the folder on the desk, "Miss Saranna Preece, born in Iopolis on Canceron and is rumored to be a member of the crime syndicate known as the Bass-, Basileos," stuttered the Caprican trying to pronounce the word in the folder.

"The Basileus," corrected England. "And if that's true then you may have snagged us a bigger fish than you realize"

"Snagged 'you' a bigger fish," Ratliff said, her demeanor had become a bit more confrontational.

"Sorry, slip of the tongue there. It's just that depending on where she ranks in Carl Tolan's organization could be a great help to us in the CGP who are trying to take down the Basileus," England said.

"Fair enough," Ratliff said as she went back to her cup of coffee.

"What can you tell me about this Carl Tolan and the Basileus?" Bowman asked. If Preece was going to be interrogated then they would need whatever bit of information they could use, especially if she was a member of this criminal organization.

England took a moment to get his thoughts together before he said, "Carl Tolan is in his mid-forties but looks like he could still pass for his early to late thirties. To be exact, he's forty-four years old and has spent most of his life building a criminal empire. He was born in Mangala but was sent to Hades to apprentice as a joiner. The shop he was apprenticing at was paying protection money to a man known as Roman Gentry, a man who ran a large crime group known as the Tache. To make a long story short, Carl Tolan ended up waging a mini-war against Gentry and ultimately won. However, instead of eradicating the group he brought other smaller organizations under his umbrella and ultimately renamed the group the Basileus. Now he is the man who runs all the crime on the colony. As you can imagine taking him down will help my people."

"What kind of man is Tolan?" Ratliff asked.

"He's charming, intelligent, cunning, and dangerous all wrapped into one neat and bloody little package. He surrounds himself with people who have an unwavering loyalty to him, so if we can get one to turn on him that would give us an intelligence coup."

Bowman and Ratliff gave each other a quick look to try to gauge what the other was thinking, finally Ratliff nodded.

'If what he's saying true then we may have stumbled onto something major,' Bowman thought to himself. It was something that needed to be done that was in the best interests of both Caprica and Canceron.

"In that case…let's begin," Bowman finally said.


	2. Chapter 2: Under the Hammer

**Chapter Two: Under the Hammer**

**Caprica City Park:**

The ground was wet beneath the woman's feet as she walked, her dog stepping faithfully beside her feet. The morning air was brisk as she inhaled to clear her mind. It seemed these days this was the only time of day she would ever have to herself. The tall man following her acted as a reminder that when this walk was over she would have to return to business. It was a business she had inherited from her father. It was one she had never intended to take over; however, Tauron tradition demanded that she do so.

This morning's casual walk was cut short by the sight of another man in a grey business suit approaching her from the opposite end of the park. The tall man she was keeping in company looked at him only to recognise his brother was approaching and when he saw there was no threat to her he eased up a little and continued to scan the park for an assassin as was his job as her protector.

The approaching man stopped in front of her and knelt down waiting to receive her hand and kiss the ring she wore.

"Guatrau!" he greeted her as his lips met the metal.

"Hello, Yusef," greeted the Guatrau of the Hal'a'tha crime syndicate who no longer went by her name of Fidelia Fazekas. "I take it that since you are out this early in the morning you do not bring good news?"

Yusef got to his feet having displayed the respect one would expect for the head of the most powerful crime family on Caprica. "I'm afraid not," said Yusef Adama. "I just heard from one of our associates, the Canceron Mercenary we hired to take care of Mr Chambers while he was off world, that a man named Carl Tolan has arrived on Caprica."

"Tolan?" said Samuel Adama, the Guatrau's bodyguard. "Never heard of him."

"It seems he is a relative newcomer to the game on Canceron but he has built himself a good base there. Now it seems he is looking to expand his operations to Caprica."

"Who does this mother frakker think he is just showing up here and expecting to take over?" growled Sam before the Guatrau cut him off, raising her arm to silence him.

"I've heard of the Tolans," she explained. "When I was inside I befriended one or two Canceron prisoners and they told me about him and his Basileus. He is a smart man but as you said, Yusef, he is a newcomer to the game. Sometimes one can override the other."

"Then perhaps," said Sam, "we should bid Mr. Tolan safe journey before he becomes too much of a nuisance."

"I would suggest caution," said the Guatrau. "As I said, Tolan is a smart man. He has picked the right time to make a move here on Caprica. The sad affair regarding my predecessor's removal from power has left its mark on our people. Many still haven't forgotten that a line was drawn down the middle of us and we very nearly caved in. A good house needs a strong foundation to survive. Tolan knows our foundation is precarious."

"What would you have us do, Guatrau?" asked Yusef.

"Arrange a meeting for us, Yusef," instructed the Guatrau. "On our terms, of course. We must make sure Carl Tolan knows whose territory this is. Let's see what he has to say for himself."

Yusef Adama knelt down once more and kissed her ring before adding, "I shall make the necessary arrangements."

**Alalid, Ionian Islands:**

"What do you think of my new attire, Mr. Wright?" the woman asked.

"Come now Amie, you don't have to use my alias here. In Caprica City we were on business but now we are off the clock," Adam Wright said.

Amie Sylenis walked over to the bed upon which Wright was perched with his legs dangling over the side and promptly sat in his lap facing him and wrapped her arms around him, "In that case consider me clocked out for the day. Mr. Tolan."

Carl Tolan smiled and kissed her on the lips. "That's more of what I had in mind," he whispered in between exchanges of their lips. Tolan did not mind mixing business with pleasure while he was here on Caprica to cement an alliance with the Soldiers of the One. There was no reason he why could not use the time to get a few days with his mistress.

"You really think there is money to be made here?" she asked him as she nibbled the bottom of his left ear.

"I wouldn't be here if I thought otherwise," he replied as he became momentarily breathless by the intrusion of her hand over his groin.

The old Tauron-made car, a classic in its own right, pulled up to the side of the curb. Jason Dareios sat in the car with Samuel Adama, the two had flown in from Caprica City and were now outside of the Stribling Hotel and Resort, and pondered the message they were deliver to Carl Tolan.

"What kind of approach do you want to use with him?" Dareios asked.

Sam took a drag of a cigarette, "I think we're going to have to get him to come with us for a friendly chat, nothing to stir his security people."

"How strong do you think his force is?"

Sam shrugged, "He's probably got enough people to keep most of us from giving him trouble. We'll just have to politely ask him to meet with the Guatrau."

"We should go on in, there's no telling how jumpy Tolan could be."

**Twelve Minutes Later:**

The door to the room opened and in stepped Timothy Shon, the head of Tolan's personal security force, to find Tolan and his mistress in a semi-state of undress.

"Mr. Tolan, I'm sorry to interrupt you but there is a matter needing your attention."

Looking at the head of the team who would protect him here on Caprica as well as Canceron Carl knew this was something that could not wait. Tolan dismissed his mistress with a pat on her bottom and she left the room to go down to the pool.

"Show them in," Tolan said as he moved to a nearby table. Two men walked in and there was a tension as the two eyed Shon, DeAndre Trevino, and Weston Daniels.

"What can I do for you?" Tolan asked.

"Your arrival has caught the attention of our Guatrau, she would like a meeting with you as soon as possible," the taller man with the tattoos on his arm said.

"I have no problem with a meeting but I'm afraid it will have to be sometime later in the week. I'm here on some important business and I would like to have what's left of today to relax," Tolan said.

"Perhaps you should reconsider. Right now, I have a sniper set up near the bushes by the pool. I give the word and your girlfriend takes a bullet. I'm sure for a man like you that is no inconvenience but if you get questioned in her untimely demise, that could cause you some travel issues," the man said.

"I see what you're saying," Tolan said as though he was running over the implications of what he had been told, "I shall leave within the hour, my security people will escort me of course…no disrespect to you or your Guatrau."

"My friend here will be waiting by the lobby for you. I will stay and walk with you. It would be wise to not leave him waiting too long."

**Global Defense Department Headquarters, Caprica City:**

**Interrogation Room 103:**

Agent Jack Bowman walked into the room and eyed Maurice Gordon, not wanting to give the man sitting handcuffed to the table any indication of what he was thinking.

"Been quite the night, wouldn't you say?" Bowman asked Gordon.

"Yeah, I guess…" Gordon said.

Bowman took a seat and locked eyes with the man sitting opposite, "You know, I had a quiet night at home. I played this flight simulator with my son, and let me tell you he has a knack for flying. The thing is that when he was in bed I thought, 'Great, I can get some sleep!' Only that didn't happen because of you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you have to get yourself arrested by my fellow GDD agents and you are suspected of not only being a member of the STO but also associating with a representative of a major crime syndicate on another colony. Anything you'd like to say?"

"Yeah...sorry for waking you up."

Bowman took a deep breath before continuing. "Look, I don't have much of a reputation for pussy footing around the truth. It just wastes a lot of time and that is something you do not have right now. In the current atmosphere of this Moneth witch-hunt, association with the STO alone is enough to put you away for a very long time. So why don't you spare us the trouble of playing games and just tell me what I want to hear, ok?"

"You cut the frakking games," retorted Gordon. "You and I both know you got next to squat on me and that is why you're playing this little fascist game of yours. It's all circumstantial. Do you have any real evidence?"

"Plenty," lied Bowman quite convincingly.

"Then why don't you use it?"

"Because I'm offering you a chance to help me. You see the cameras on the ceiling? They're recording everything we say in here. Do you know what label they usually put on those tapes? Huh? Exhibit A! That's right; they will be used in your trial. The judge will see how cooperative you are and if you keep playing your games then they will just come down harder on you, my friend. However, if those tapes show you're being helpful, then things will get a lot easier for you. So, what's it going to be; easy street or the rest of your life is a total nightmare because if you don't start talking and you go to prison everyone there will know you're STO. And take it from me. a lot of guys find the love of the Gods in there and if they see a Moneth, they might just go for the throat. Pick now!"

There was a moment of hesitation with Gordon, as though the man was doing what he could to make sense of the situation.

"I'm losing patience," Bowman said.

"Fine, I'll tell you what you want to know," Gordon said as though he was admitting that his situation was indeed hopeless.

"I thought you'd see reason," Bowman said as he fished out a tape recorder and pressed the 'Record' button. There was a confession to tape and he needed the evidence for the trial.

**Interrogation Room 108:**

Saranna Preece looked like she was bored for the most part when she made eye contact with both Claire Ratliff and Christopher England.

"Miss Preece, I am Claire Ratliff with the GDD and this is Captain Christopher England from the Canceron Global Police. You were picked up on suspicion of being involved with the STO," Ratliff said as diplomatically as she could.

"That's nice," Preece said to Ratliff before turning her attention to England, "You're CGP huh; in that case you probably know who I'm rumored to be a part of."

"The Basileus," England said as if he were stating an obvious fact.

"Funny rumor though, I am merely here on a business deal that's being negotiated. There's nothing wrong with trying to do business off-world right?"

"There is if your business involves selling weapons to a known terrorist organization," Ratliff said.

"Good luck proving that one," Preece said.

"Are you admitting to it?" England asked.

Preece laughed, "I'm a lawyer negotiating a business deal for an influential member of Canceron society. You prove there's something more going on and it'll be news to me."

"You're just a victim of circumstance then?" Ratliff asked before continuing, "I am supposed to believe that you were having dinner with a guy who just happens to be STO and you got caught up in a big misunderstanding."

"I couldn't have put it better myself," Preece said with a satisfied look on her face.

There was a knock on the door. When it opened, Bowman appeared and motioned for the two to follow him out.

When they were in the hallway England said, "I hope you have a good reason for pulling us out of there."

"I just got done with my interview of Gordon, took some work but I got him to tell me everything he knows," Bowman said.

"In that case, is our lawyer friend in there telling the truth?" Ratliff asked.

"Do you think I'd come here just to tell you she's as pure as snow?" Bowman retorted.

"That sounds like good news to me," England said.

Bowman nodded, "She's exactly what we thought she was, we have in our custody a high-ranking member of the Basileus."

"After meeting the lovely Agent Ratliff," England began, which drew a smirk from Ratliff, before adding, "This has made my day here much better. I'll let the two of you process her and Gordon, I have to call the Canceron Embassy and let them know."

**Iopolis, Canceron: **

Michelle Sandoval and Marc Blackburn were relaxing by the pool of their Iopolis home in the upscale Orestias neighborhood.

The phone near Blackburn rang.

"You might want to pick that up," Sandoval said to her husband.

"You're probably right," Blackburn said as he picked up the receiver and pressed the 'Talk' button.

"Who's calling?"

"This call is for Specter and Karibdis," the man's voice said.

"This is Karibdis," Blackburn said as he sat up in the lounge chair.

"Your employer wishes you to travel to Caprica City to take care of some areas of concern he has," the man said.

Blackburn motioned for Sandoval to get out of the pool and come to where he was, "We can be ready to leave within the hour. Will we be provided with passports and aliases?"

"Yes, your documents will be waiting for you at the usual location along with a substantial amount of money for expenses. Mr. Tolan would appreciate your prompt action to deal with this matter," the man then ended the call without saying another word.

"What was that all about?" Sandoval asked as she wrapped a towel around her body, the white of the towel contrasting with her brown skin.

Blackburn looked up at his wife, "We need to leave for Caprica City in an hour. It seems our boss has a job for us."

"We just took care of that lawyer in Noa for him, I thought he promised we'd have some downtime before our next job," Sandoval said with an obvious hint of disappointment.

"That's the life of an assassin for you, and it has to be important that Carl Tolan needs us so quickly," Blackburn said as he got out of the lounge chair and walked into the house.

**Iopolis, Canceron, Iopolis Maglev Station Forty-Two: **

"You are Cindy Hannibal, an engineer with Theodoric Aeronautics," Blackburn said as he handed Sandoval her documents.

"Sounds like an interesting life, and what about you?"

"I am Mason Raines, a lawyer with the Dorian Law Group in Mangala," Blackburn said as he checked his papers.

"Works for me; now who are the targets?" Sandoval asked.

Blackburn pulled out a sheet of paper out of a large brown folder with names and photos, "Saranna Preece, Christopher England, Jack Bowman, Maurice Gordon, and Claire Ratliff."

"Anyone else or is that all?"

"Optional targets if we encounter them are Ian Grant, Bruno Milone, and Andrea Randle…" Blackburn scanned the information and let out a whistle, "This is going to be a tall order here; with the exception of Preece and Gordon these are all law enforcement agents."

Neither said another word about their work until they were in their Scorpia Sedan heading toward the Abner Read Spaceport, the closest of the three spaceports in Iopolis.

"Any idea how to pull this off?" Sandoval asked.

"I have an idea but it's going to require a lot of cubits and a few dishonest people willing to take them," Blackburn said.

"I'm listening," she said as she looked at the city from the sedan's windows.

"We get an administrator to have Preece and Gordon moved to a secure facility nearby. We get a lawyer to request a debriefing with the agents involved. We make sure the administrator has them all in the same vehicle. We pay a driver to take a more scenic route through a heavily wooded area. Then we strike and take them all out in one fell swoop," Blackburn said.

"It's brilliant, but can it be done?"

Blackburn shrugged, "It's all a good plan if we can pull it off, but it's just a matter of getting the Boss to sign off on it."

Sandoval smiled, "I think he'll have no problem with that seeing as how Preece could squeal on him to save her own hide. He can only pay off so many members of the CGP and avoid trouble."

**The Next Day: **

**Global Defense Department, Caprica City: **

Aaron Brannigan walked into the office of Assistant Director Samantha Hayden, "Director Hayden, I got your message to meet with you."

"Thank you for coming so promptly, Agent Brannigan," Hayden said before motioning for Brannigan to take a seat.

He did so and then asked, "Does this have something to do with the arrests my team made last night?"

She shook her head, "Not at all, it would seem as though your retirement papers have been expedited. At the end of today, you will be officially retired and able to settle into a comfortable life. It's the least we can do after all the hard work you've done with us over the years."

Brannigan shook his head, "That's hard to believe, I've saved up but it's nothing to let me live comfortably."

"You will be fine, it seems that your early retirement will not have any adverse consequences," Hayden said as she produced a letter, "A courier delivered this letter to me this morning, it's addressed to you and is to be opened by your eyes only."

Brannigan opened the letter and read it to himself, _**'This is a little present from me to you, as a 'Thank you' for the drinks and conversation the other night. You should check your bank account; you can now retire to Tybee Island and live comfortably.'**_

The letter was signed by Adam Wright.

**Tenedos, Tauron District of Caprica City:**

Carl Tolan, Timothy Shonn, Weston Daniels, and DeAndre Trevino exited the limousine that Tolan had brought along for the trip. With the exception of the driver, the occupants were in the backseat of the vehicle. Sam Adama was on a mobile phone talking in a language that none of the occupants were able to make out.

"What does this place look like to you?" Tolan asked Shonn.

"Looks like some sort of restaurant, may have been better days if you ask me," Shonn said.

"This should stay a courtesy call, I think we could easily take this guy and his friends," Daniels said.

Adama said something followed by a laugh.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Trevino asked.

"I said I'd like to see you try, you Cancerons need to branch out with other languages," Adama said before returning to the call.

"Play nice," Tolan said with a tone that left no room for argument from either Trevino or the other two men with him.

"Wise move," Adama said as he exited the door to converse with a man who was standing at the restaurant's door.

"Follow us," the other man said when he came back to the limousine's door.

The four men exited the vehicle and followed the two men into the restaurant. The interior looked better maintained than the exterior, the wooden walls and cream-colored paint scheme gave it an old feel but not one that seemed to have suggested it was decrepit. The sun shone through the windows giving such light to the room and made the need for electrical lights unnecessary for this time of the day.

The woman was sitting in the middle of the room at a table, it seemed the restaurant was either closed for the day or simply emptied for this meeting. Tolan's senses told him his three friends had already sized up their odds if this were to become a firefight of some sort.

"Please have a seat, Mr. Tolan," the woman said as she motioned to the seat facing her on the opposite side of the table.

Tolan did as he was told, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Guatrau."

"I've heard about you from various prisoners from Canceron, it would seem you have acquired quite the reputation on your home colony," she said as she took a drink from her glass.

"Good news, I would suppose," Tolan said with a smile.

"Would you please tell your men to not go for their weapons, there is no need for violence here today. This is strictly a social call I'm making."

"Like hell it is," Trevino said before Tolan and Shonn silenced him with looks.

"Your men seem rather trigger-happy," she observed.

"Keeping Mr. Tolan safe is our business. We prefer to shoot first and ask questions later," Daniels said.

"Not in this case, Mr. Daniels, let's not disrespect our generous host," Tolan said.

"I do wonder about your intentions here on Caprica," the Guatrau said once Tolan's men seemed to have relaxed their guard.

"Why is that?" Tolan asked.

"I hear reports that you are attempting to start operations here on Caprica, trying to expand the base of the Basileus beyond Canceron."

"I'll confess I made some inquiries but it makes more sense for me to stay on Canceron where I have become established."

"That is a relief to hear, because I believe you'd find something other than that to be rather unpleasant for both you and your loved ones," the Guatrau saw that Tolan was going to say something but held her hand up, "You are welcome to come to Caprica but it is only as a tourist. You will find doing business and muscling in on our operations will only be healthy and profitable for the funeral industry."

"Understood, Guatrau, will that be all?" Tolan asked.

"We shall meet again in a week to discuss matters, and I can see if you are truly here as a tourist or if you are up to something more. Next time bring someone other than these three, they may cause an incident with their attitudes towards weapons."

"Very well, I'll be down in the Ionian Islands until then," Tolan said as he stood up and walked out with Shonn, Trevino, and Daniels.

Yusef walked over to her and asked, "Guatrau, I don't believe he's here for pleasure."

She smiled, "Neither do I, Yusef, but I am willing to give him the rope he needs to hang himself with."

**Five Days Later:**

**Delphi, Caprica: **

Jack Bowman stood at the sink running his razor through the stream of water to rinse it off. It had been almost a week now since that night when both he and Ratliff had been summoned to interrogate the two suspects Brannigan's team had picked up.

The mobile phone he carried began to ring and he saw the caller was his partner.

"Hey Claire," he said.

"Agent Bowman, this is Captain England from the CGP," the man said.

"Captain England, how did you get Claire's phone?" Bowman asked.

"We're down here at Denle Rel; Claire told me she'd take me out for some authentic Gemenonese food."

Bowman knew where that restaurant was, "Give me about forty-five minutes and I can be there."

"Thank you Agent Bowman, there's been a development I need to tell you about," England said before ending the call.

**One Hour Later:**

**Denle Rel Restaurant: **

"I don't know if you realize this or not but it is a little past forty-five minutes," Ratliff teased Bowman when he sat down.

"There was some unexpected traffic that slowed me down," Bowman said as he took a seat.

"First let me ask, do you know Assistant Director Theron Delgado?" England asked.

"Yeah, we've all heard about him. His father is Valen Delgado; he's a member of the Caprica City Council. Theron has made no bones about who his father is and how he can have us fired in a heartbeat if we make him mad," Bowman said.

"To make the point a bit shorter, Chris, he's a whiney little bitch who's done squat to earn an Assistant Director position," Ratliff said.

"Why are you asking?" Bowman inquired.

"Because he's informed my superiors at the embassy that I am going to be needed at the trials of both Preece and Gordon, and he's even having all of us make the trip to Oxford for the trial in the same GDD van that the two prisoners are going to be in," England said.

"Perhaps he's trying to save money, he may have a heart when it comes to the bottom line," Ratliff said.

"Let me tell you something important," England began before continuing, "Carl Tolan probably knows by now that we have a highly-placed member of his organization and he is going to want to make sure she can't say anything that would come back to cause him trouble. If the trial was still going to be here in Caprica City that would be one thing but you're talking about a trip to Oxford and that's a bit too far for me to feel comfortable. If he's going to make a move to eliminate her that would be the best bet."

"Fair enough, now is there anything else you need to know?" Bowman asked.

"Have either of you heard about a lawyer named Cathryn Cross? She's been assigned to be the defense attorney for both Preece and Gordon," England said.

"Frak me, they got the Hellcat for their attorney," Ratliff said. Cathryn Gwendolyn Cross was a high-priced defense lawyer who worked with the Kirkland Law Group, a collection of attorneys whose work was solely to provide defense council in criminal cases. Cross was notorious for doing whatever it took to get her clients an acquittal and both judges and opposing attorneys did not look forward to dealing with her.

"She's got a rep for being a ruthless attorney who will do everything she can to tear apart the opposing team and its witnesses," Bowman said.

"Well she got the trial moved to Oxford in one of the neighboring counties, a case like this should not be the type that requires a change of venue," England said.

"You know, England, you seem awfully paranoid about this," Bowman said.

"When it comes to dealing with a group like the Basileus…well it's hard to not be paranoid," England said.

Ratliff's mobile phone began to ring and the two men looked at her as she took the phone out of its case and checked the caller id. "I'll be right back," she said as she got up to leave the table.

"Do you know who's calling her?" England asked.

Bowman shook his head, "Not a clue, I'm a bit curious who it is."

Ratliff walked out of the restaurant and headed down the sidewalk where she would be away from any prying ears.

"I thought you weren't going to call me until lunchtime," she said as she glanced back towards the restaurant.

"Sorry, Claire but this is important," replied Perry Ridgeway, a fellow agent and her lover.

"All right, Perry, what's going on?" Ratliff said with a trace of concern in her voice.

"I just got out of a meeting with Assistant Director Hayden, I'm being transferred to Auburn," Ridgeway said, as though telling her was something that pained him greatly.

"What?" she asked once she was no longer stunned.

"There's an opening for a Senior Field Agent there and I was recommended for the job," he said.

"What about us? You know I can't drop everything here and follow you there," Ratliff said.

"I know this probably ends things between us, but I didn't want to lead you on until it was time for me to go," Ridgeway said.

"Thank you for that, Perry, I know it is a small comfort but I appreciate it," Ratliff said before she let out a bitter laugh.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"At least now nobody is going to find out us," Ratliff said before adding, "I have to go, Perry, but maybe we can say our goodbyes when this is all over."

"I'd like that," Ridgeway said before he disconnected the call.

**Araplos Hotel, Myra Suite:**

"You're late," DeAndre Trevino said to the two new arrivals from Canceron. He had been placed in charge of this operation by Timothy Shonn. With the possible trouble with the Taurons looming, Shonn wanted to give that situation his full attention and let Trevino handle this assignment for Carl Tolan.

"We needed a few more days to tie up some of the loose ends of our plan. The important thing is that we have everything in place," Blackburn said as he removed his suit jacket and tossed it onto a nearby chair.

"We have our preparations done and we can strike whenever the time arrives," Sandoval said as she took a seat on a nearby sofa.

"Mr. Tolan has always had an appreciation of your work. Just remember that you take care of this for him and he will remember it should the time come when you need a favor," Trevino said as he walked over to the bar to fix a drink.

"Who does have Shonn have in mind for being in charge of Mr. Tolan's security detail?" Blackburn asked.

"Denise Shields and Noemi Morris are with Mr. Tolan at this moment, he's having another meeting with the Taurons. Their leader requested that Mr. Shonn, Mr. Daniels, and I not be present for any future meetings. Because of that I've been tasked with keeping an eye on your progress," Trevino said as he poured an amber colored liquid into a tumbler and downed it in one drink.

"Will you and Mr. Daniels accompany us when we go to make the hit?" Sandoval asked.

"We'll be nearby but we'll be concealed enough to where you won't notice us," Trevino said as he walked from the bar and took a seat on the sofa beside Blackburn.

"We've mapped out several possibilities but this one here looks the most promising," Sandoval said as she brought over a map of Caprica City and the area surrounding it. She pointed to what appeared to be a wooded area.

"What is it?" Trevino asked.

"Right here, Highway 87 runs through the Macona Forest. If our driver can get the transport van here then we can set up a trap that should take them all out and have it appear to be an unfortunate accident," Sandoval said as she showed Trevino several places that seemed to suit their purposes.

"Who's our driver?" Trevino asked.

"A GDD transport driver named Jamal Griffin, and it costs us a quarter of a million cubits to buy his services," Blackburn said.

"What about our new friend in the GDD, did he give a timeframe for the move?" Trevino asked, he wanted to make sure that this assassin duo had thought of every possibility.

"He's agreed to do a late-night transport tonight for security reasons and that should give us the chance to use our resources most effectively. If they survive the crash then we go in with night-vision and finish them off," Blackburn said with a confident smile on his face.

"Sounds like you have everything in order, let's get everything in position for tonight," Trevino said as he fished his mobile phone out of his pocket to call Carl Tolan. Tonight they would take care of his problems for him.

"If everything goes to plan we'll be back home in Iopolis in less than three days," Blackburn said.

Trevino did not hear him; he had already pressed the Call button on his phone. Two rings later Carl Tolan's voice came on the line, "Mr. Trevino, is everything ready?"

"Yes, it is, Mr. Tolan. Karibdis and Specter are ready and we can hit our targets tonight. By the time you wake up tomorrow you will find the news quite pleasing," Trevino said.

"Glad to hear it, make sure none of the occupants of that survive or else you'll find yourself coordinating operations in Pavo," Tolan said.

Trevino gulped; Pavo was one of the four cities in the frozen Northern Territories of Canceron. That was an assignment he would rather avoid at all costs.

"Understood sir, we'll eliminate all of them."


	3. Chapter 3: Ambush

**Chapter Three: Ambush**

**Global Defense Department, Caprica City Headquarters, 03:36 hrs:**

The parking garage located in the lower levels of the Caprica City headquarters of the Global Defense Department was eerily quiet in the early morning hours. The transport van was idling near the tunnel where prisoners would be brought out from for transport to either prison or trials. The white light from the overhead light fixtures coupled with the bright white painting of the garage walls helped to light up the garage, giving the impression that it was always noon time even during the early morning darkness.

Agent Jack Bowman was standing near the security office conversing with Omar Dudley, the on-duty guard, while waiting for his company to show up.

"You seem wide awake for three in the morning," Dudley said after watching Bowman take a drink from his coffee mug.

"Lots and lots of coffee can do that to you, though I'd rather be in bed right now."

Dudley chuckled, "I'm sure of that Agent _Bow…Man_."

"Please, call me 'Jack'. It's too early in the morning for formality."

"As you wish…_Jack_," Dudley said as he checked the itinerary for the transport, "You're taking the long route to Oxford?"

"Are you sure?" Bowman asked.

"I have family there, and when we go to visit them we always take the Auburn Expressway. It cuts through Oxford and is faster than taking Highway 87. If something happens to you in the Macona Forest you could have issues, that whole forest is one big 'dead zone' for mobile communication."

"I have no idea why we're going to take the long way; maybe it's a security thing."

"Just my two cubits on the matter…how's your boy?"

"Well the latest with Archie is that I promised him I'd take him to the air show that's being held over in Octavius so the sooner I'm done with this transport the sooner I can get him there so he can enjoy the show."

"He's already caught the flying bug, nothing wrong with that."

"I have to agree with you," Bowman said and then he heard the buzzing as the door next to the prisoner tunnel opened. Out stepped Agent Claire Ratliff and Captain Christopher England of the Canceron Planetary Police.

"Bowman, you managed to beat us here!" England said as he walked up and shook hands with the broad GDD Agent.

"Nice to see you England, did you and Claire get here at the same time?"

"Yes and no…" Ratliff began, "Chris called and asked me if it was ok for him to pick me up on the way here."

"If I had known that I'd have asked if you could have picked me up too," Bowman joked with the desired effect of causing Ratliff to blush slightly and England to look away momentarily.

"Next time I'll be sure to round you up as well," England said as he seemed to have gotten over any type of embarrassment.

"The sooner we get this over with the better," Ratliff said before adding, "I have never liked Oxford all that much to begin with."

The door opened again and out walked Agent Ian Grant looking as much of a professional as one would expect from a GDD agent.

"Ian! What are you doing here?" Bowman asked.

"I heard about this and thought I'd volunteer to accompany Gordon and Preece. Randle and Malone are already in Oxford coordinating the arrival of our prisoners."

"How'd they go there?" Bowman asked, the previous conversation with Dudley running through his mind.

"They hit the Auburn Expressway and got off at the exit for Oxford," Grant said before asking, "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing important right now," Bowman said as he walked over to the transport truck where Jamal Griffin was sitting behind the wheel, "Hey Griffin, why are we going through the Macona Forest instead of taking the Auburn Expressway?"

Griffin did not bother to turn to look at him, "It was decided to take a different route, it's more out of the way but it should keep anyone from trying an escape."

"Who authorized that?" Bowman demanded, trying all he could to keep his frustration out of his voice.

"That's not your concern, Agent," Griffin spat.

"Like hell it isn't, we're being sent so out of our way it's not even frakking funny. Who thought this was such a bright idea?"

Griffin seemed to want to say something but appeared to have finally relented, "Assistant Director Theron Delgado made the decision after Cathryn Cross got the trial moved to Oxford."

"Damn him," Bowman muttered under his breath.

The doors opened and out walked Saranna Preece and Maurice Gordon, both wore orange jumpsuits and had both hands and feet shackled. The guards escorting them kept both moving at a brisk pace, as though there was a chance of the Basileus launching an armed assault on the garage to rescue the prisoners.

"Who's in charge of the escort?" the lead guard asked.

Bowman walked over and flashed his credentials, "I am! Agent Jack Bowman and you are?"

"Dalton Landry, these two haven't been the most talkative but hopefully that will make the transport to Oxford all the easier for you," Landry said as he extended his hand to shake Bowman's.

"Thank you Landry, get them on the transport and we can take it from here," Bowman said as he stepped to the side.

"You heard the man, get these two secured on that transport," Landry called out and the guards began moving the prisoners onto the transport van. Once they had been led onboard Preece and Gordon were secured on benches on opposite sides of the van's interior benches by the guards.

"Let's get on and get this over with," Bowman said to the three and silently they boarded through the van's rear entrance and took seats on the benches that the prisoners were secured to.

Bowman and Grant were seated on either side of Gordon while England and Ratliff had taken positions to the right of Preece.

Griffin slid the glass partition back that separated the driver's compartment with the rear.

"Everything ok?"

"We're secure back here Griffin," said Bowman. "Get us moving."

The van started up and Griffin began navigating up the lower levels of the parking garage towards the street level exit. When they reached the entrance, he flashed his identification badge at the guard. The woman nodded her head and pressed a button, allowing the van to turn onto Concord Street.

"I swear this city never sleeps," England said as he looked out the rear window of the van watching as the cars around them sped down the street on their way to whatever destination the drivers had in mind. Caprica City was buzzing with activity even this early in the morning, life here never seemed to stop no matter what time of the day it was.

"It never does, no matter what time of day you can always find something to do," Ratliff said.

"She's right," Bowman added, "this is center of life here on Caprica. The other cities may have their unique features but Caprica City seems to dwarf them."

"Preece, is your boss going to try to bail you out?" Grant asked.

Preece was quiet, as though she had not heard the question.

"I see, well just so you know the odds of Carl Tolan getting you out of this seems remote," England said, drawing a glare from Preece.

"I think if she admits he might try something then that might be used against her at her trial," Ratliff said and took a particular delight from getting the same glare from Preece that England had received.

"What about you Gordon," Grant said before asking, "You think your STO friends have the firepower to get you out of here?"

Unlike Preece, Gordon took the bait, "You honestly think I'm going to give you something to use against me?"

"I'm not doing anything; I'm simply having a conversation with the monotheist I just happened to have arrested. Where's the harm in that?" Grant asked.

"You think you're so clever," Preece said smiling with amusement before Gordon could say something, "You sit there all smug like you are some type of hero."

"Ian, just what did you do to these two when you arrested them?" Bowman asked.

Grant shrugged, "The basic stuff we do, with these two I felt the need to break out the handcuffs."

"Probably not the highlight of their day," Ratliff said.

The van turned suddenly to the right and the agents looked out the window.

"Looks like we're on Highway 87 now," Bowman said. It would be the start of their long drive to Oxford, his instincts told him there was something off but he could not put his finger on it.

"How long is this going to take?" England asked.

"Two and a half to three hours with the way we're going, it'd be about an hour if we were on the Expressway," Bowman said.

"From what I remember there are a couple of shorter roads that can take us through the forest," England said.

"Yeah, but we're going through a remote road that's taking us through the outer edge of the forest," Bowman said and it was then that he rested his head against wall. "Operational necessities you know?" Perhaps a little rest might do him some good. It seemed all the coffee he had consumed had done him little to no good as his body gave in to its need for sleep.

"He seems to have fallen asleep," England observed when it became clear that Bowman had in fact been talking in his sleep.

"Yeah, the fun I will have with this piece of information," Ratliff said with a mischievous grin.

**One Hour and Twenty-Four Minutes Later:**

"Where are we?" Bowman asked as he came out of his sleep-induced mental fog, a distinct taste of old carpet circling his mouth from a lack of moisture on his tongue.

"A place called Big Horse Creek, Griffin stopped for gas and we picked up some food from this place," England said.

"Big Horse Creek, can't say I heard of that and I spent most of my life here on Caprica," Bowman said.

"From what we've seen of the town you're not missing much," Ratliff said.

"We're near the Darien River. Seems this place isn't too far from the Temple Falls," Grant said. We're surrounded by woods in the middle of nowhere filling up our gas tank in a town I had no idea even existed," Grant said, drawing a laugh from everyone except the prisoners.

The engine of the van rumbled to life and Griffin pulled the vehicle back onto the road and continued in the direction towards Oxford.

**Twenty-seven Minutes Later:**

After almost a half hour the interior of the van was once again quiet, each of the occupants lost in their thoughts. Suddenly the van lurched to the right as though a tire had blown out. Bowman and Grant were thrown violently to the floor, with both letting out a string of curses that would make a drill instructor tell them to watch their language.

It seemed Griffin was trying to compensate because the van seemed to swing back to the center and began to tumble over and roll off the side of the road. Preece and Gordon were secured and stayed in place for the most part. However, Grant, Bowman, England, and Ratliff were thrown around the van as though they were mere toys in the hand of an invisible giant.

The van came to a stop after rolling down a steep embankment and smashing into a tree. It now rested on its wheels with the left side smashed in by the impact with the tree. There was a mix of groaning and cursing coming from the group inside, each was taking an inventory of just how badly injured they were.

"How is everyone?" Bowman asked.

"I've had worse scrapes but I should be fine," England said.

"Yeah, what he said," grumbled Ratliff putting her hair back from her face.

"If I have anything broken I can get it fixed later, I just want to get out of here," Grant added.

"Get us out of here too!" Gordon said with the panic in his voice obvious.

"You're not leaving me here!" Preece demanded.

Suddenly there was the sound of a bullet penetrating the van's metal skin. It landed right next to where Bowman's head lay.

"What the frak?" Bowman exclaimed and then his training kicked in, "Someone's trying to kill us, looks like the Basileus is coming to rescue you."

"No, that's not how they do a rescue," Preece said as horror began to show on her face, "This isn't a rescue, it's an execution!"

"What?" Grant asked.

"Carl Tolan hires people to do his dirty work; this must be a staged accident. A rescue would involve disabling the vehicle and extracting us. This is the work of an assassin," she said.

"Now you're admitting to being part of the Basileus?" Ratliff asked.

"Before my boss wasn't trying to kill me now was he?" Preece shot back.

"Enough, we're getting out of here," Bowman said as a flurry of bullets entered the van.

Grant took a hit to the arm and grabbed it in pain, "We're sitting ducks in here, let's get out!"

Bowman kicked the door open and was rewarded with a shot hitting the door. Not thinking of what to do next he launched himself out of the door and managed to dodge the bullets that whizzed through the air attempting to hit him. He headed to the rear of the van thankful that he had yet to be wounded. He crouched and made his way to the driver's side. He opened the door and Griffin fell out onto the ground. His seatbelt had come undone and there was a telltale bullet hole in his right temple. It seemed he had survived the crash only to get shot by whoever was out there as he tried to escape from the van.

Not wanting to dwell too much on what he was doing, Bowman began to search Griffin's body and found a set of keys for the prisoner restraints he was required to keep on him in case of an emergency. Just in case it would be needed he took Griffin's sidearm. Moving closer to the rear of the van, Bowman took off the sidearm's safety and sprinted around the open door, firing off several shots into the darkness to hopefully give them reason to hold their fire.

"How bad is it?" Ratliff asked.

"We need to get into the woods and away from this van, if we stay here we're as good as dead," Bowman said as he tossed England the keys, which he used to begin undoing the ankle restraints on Preece and Gordon.

"You two are going to stay handcuffed until it's necessary to take those off," England said before turning his attention to Bowman, "I'll get behind that tree and distract them with some shots from my sidearm. That should give you enough time to get into the woods."

"Chris that is a crazy idea and you know it!" Ratliff said.

"Well Claire that's a risk I'm willing to take," England said shortly before a round entered through the wall of the van that faced the road.

"On the count of…one I want you to distract them," Bowman said and with a nod from England he held up one finger and quickly lowered it.

England shot out of the rear of the van with his sidearm spitting out bullets towards where they believed the would-be assassins were situated. Bullets pelted the ground in front of him as he hid behind the large tree not far from the van.

Bowman looked at England and the two exchanged a glance followed by a nod. England came from behind the tree and started firing once again, allowing Bowman, Ratliff, and Grant to escape the van with Preece and Gordon in tow. When they were safely away, having gone down the embankment into the woods, England took off after them with a barrage of bullets harassing him down the way until he was out of view.

From their perch on near the tree line on the hill that bordered the road, Marc 'Karibdis' Blackburn and Michelle 'Specter' Sandoval admired their handiwork. They could have killed their quarry anytime they wanted, but they had changed the plan slightly. They would 'allow' them to escape into the forest. With that done, they would track them down and kill them. It would be a hunt the likes of which they would never forget. Their quarry was smart enough to try to escape them and that made it both dangerous and exciting.

**Caprica City:**

**Hotel Isolde, Nimue Suite:**

The phone in the suite's sitting room began to ring, it was the call the man had been waiting for.

"Tell me you have good news," Timothy Shon said once he had picked up the phone.

"Everything went according to plan, as far as the authorities will be able to tell it was an unfortunate accident," DeAndre Trevino said as he sat in his Scorpia Sedan not far from where the GDD transport van had crashed.

"Are the targets dead?" Shon asked.

There was a pause before Trevino said, "Not yet, Karibdis and Specter are going into the woods to chase them down. There were some shots exchanged but with their night vision goggles our people have the advantage."

Shon was quiet; this was not what had been planned. The assassins were going off script, "Get out of there Trevino, if anyone comes by and sees the accident I don't want you anywhere near there. If you get questioned…well it would be unfortunate."

"I understand Mr. Shon, I'll be back at the hotel to wait for our people," Trevino said. There was a small town named Warm Springs and was staying at a hotel called the Petersen Inn that was a far cry from where Shon and their boss were staying at.

Shon hung the phone up and opened the door to the master bedroom to see if its occupants were awake. Carl Tolan and his mistress, Amie Sylenis, were both fast asleep. Not wanting to disturb his boss, Shon decided to let him sleep and wait until he received word that the targets were disposed of.

He went back to his seat in the living quarters and picked up the book he had been reading, Karibdis and Specter should make short work of their prey. When they did he wanted to be sure to be awake for the phone call so he could give Carl Tolan the good news.


	4. Chapter 4: Cat and Mouse

_**Chapter Four: Cat and Mouse**_

_**Caprica, Macona Forest:**_

The firing had subsided enough to where he felt it was safe to make a run for it. Christopher England, a captain in the Canceron Global Police, had allowed GDD Agents Jack Bowman, Claire Ratliff, and Ian Grant time to escape into the woods and away from the assassin or assassins trying to end their lives.

He bolted for hill and did a quick jump down the slope, a bullet zinging past where his ear had been and slammed hard into the trunk of a tree causing him to tumble like a stuntman who had no formal training.

He stopped himself short of a small creek that was not far from where the hill ended, his heart still thumping against his rib cage. He looked and saw the GDD agents huddled near a tree with their weapons aimed.

"We weren't sure you were going to make it," Jack Bowman said as he motioned for England to come to where he was.

"I had my doubts there for a moment," England said as he quickly made his way to the group.

"You don't need to do something crazy like that again, we're all in this together," Claire Ratliff said as she gave England a punch in the arm.

"You did a good job back there, you're one hell of a shot," Ian Grant said as he gave England a pat on the back.

"Thanks," England said as he saw the bullet wound on Grant's arm, "That looks painful."

"It's just a flesh wound," Grant said dismissively.

"Just a flesh wound, eh?" Bowman asked as though he were trying to hold back a laugh.

"There was this girl I dated, the one with the snake tattoo on her back, she tried to give me more than a flesh wound the night I broke up with her," Grant said as though that was somehow a more dangerous situation than the one they were in.

"There's no telling how much longer until they try to come for us; let's get moving. The deeper into the forest we get, the safer we should be until we can find civilization," Bowman said as he mentally tried to get his bearings/ to decide on a direction. When he had decided on a direction, he took off with his three companions following behind him. Ratliff had Saranna Preece by the handcuffs that were still restraining the hands of the highly placed Basileus lawyer. England held Maurice Gordon's handcuffs and led him the same way. Ian Grant was following behind with his sidearm in his left hand, ready to shoot at anything that came close to them. All the while, it felt as if eyes were watching them in the night.

Highway 87:

"Do you think we've given them enough time?" Marc Blackburn asked Michelle Sandoval, his wife and fellow assassin.

"I could have taken out England if I had wanted to," she said as he broke down her Azrael PXE-643 sniper rifle into its different parts, making it easier to stow away.

"I know you could have," he said as he leaned over to give her a kiss, "the thing is that now we can pursue them in the woods and take them out one by one."

"That's going to be our best hunt ever," she said with genuine glee in her voice, her heart beating with excitement as if she were a fox closing in on an unsuspecting rabbit.

"One for the ages, with night vision it's almost unfair! How much longer should we give them until we pursue?"

"Let's give them another ten minutes to get further into the woods; I doubt they're going to get too far."

_**Macona Forest:**_

"Do you have to be so rough?" Preece complained as Ratliff kept her moving at a brisk pace.

"Do you have to be so whiney?" Ratliff responded with exasperation before tugging on her restraints.

"Not that long ago my world was turned upside down, no thanks to you!" she spat at the female GDD agent.

Ratliff stopped and glared at her, "It's all about you, isn't it? I wasn't the one who arrested you. Damn it, I had no idea you even existed until five days ago, when you were dumb enough to get arrested!"

"She's right, technically I'm the one you should be mad at," Grant said and immediately regretted interjecting himself into the conversation.

"I think we have more important things to worry about," England said.

"He's right," Bowman said as he walked up to where Ratliff and Preece were having their standoff, "You calm down," he said to Ratliff and then turned to Preece, "You stop your whining!"

"If I didn't know any better, England, I think you are excited about having me in your custody," Preece said to England once they had started their march through the woods.

"Why do you say that?" he asked, even though he knew he was probably taking the bait.

"You wanted to bring Carl Tolan down and now you have your chance. Just make sure I get out of this alive and you'll get your wish," she said.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked. A part of his mind knew what she was inferring but it was best to have it out in the open.

"Bowman, Ratliff, and Grant are expendable and so is Gordon. Nobody is going to miss a dead STO member. As for our GDD friends, they'll get a nice police funeral, their loved ones will get the flag on the coffin, and lots of nice things said about them by the higher-ups. I tell you it might actually be the highlight of their careers."

"That's it, bitch!" Ratliff said as she launched herself onto Preece and tackled her to the ground. In an instant, her sidearm was out and pointed at Preece's head.

"Go on and pull the trigger," she said, enjoying the reaction she was getting out of taunting the GDD agent.

"Claire that's enough," Bowman said and with England's help, the two men pried her away from Preece and got between the two women.

"Listen to me," England said, and with both hands on her shoulders, he held her steady so they could lock eyes, "she's not worth it. She's trying to get you to kill her because it's probably more merciful than what Carl Tolan would do to her."

Bowman stepped in and got Ratliff's attention, "He's right, Claire. We'll get her out of here, turn her over to the authorities in Oxford and you'll never see her again. Just keep your cool and don't let her get under your skin. Do you understand?"

"Let's get moving," Grant said and shortly the group was moving again.

"Any idea where which way we're heading?" England asked Bowman.

The GDD agent nodded his head, "We're heading northwest towards the Shenron River. From there, we can follow it north to Oxford."

"Which way will we go if we go south?" England asked.

"We've already been by there. If we go south, we'll run into Temple Falls. Then we might be targets while we try to navigate our way downwards. It would be like fighting with our backs to the sea. At least at the river we have a fighting chance."

"In that case, north it is. How did you know that?"

"Last year I took Archie to Temple Falls, but it was a different route than the one we just took. That's why this whole thing seemed so off to begin with."

"You have good instincts, Agent Bowman," England said.

"You have a grudge against Carl Tolan, Captain England," Bowman retorted and was not surprised to see the Canceron not deny it.

_**Hotel Isolde, Nimue Suite:**_

"They did what?" Carl Tolan said with a voice that showed how angry he was with the situation.

"It seems Karibdis and Specter had other ideas," Timothy Shon said with the same cool professionalism he would have shown if this were some board meeting and he were explaining the fluctuations in company stock prices.

"Did you or Trevino have anything to do with this?" Tolan asked Shon, directing the angry laser of his glare to his head of security.

"If it had been my way, our assassins would have already taken care of them. I prefer to go in and get the job done, more satisfying and less problematic from my perspective," Shon said.

"You sent Trevino away?" Tolan asked.

Shon nodded, "Better to send him away than to leave the possibility open for him being questioned by the authorities."

"My best assassins are treating this like it's some kind of hunting retreat," Tolan said disbelievingly.

"To them this is a hunt Mr. Tolan; they seem to have decided to change the game to make it more exciting."

"What if they don't get the results? The trouble that Preece could cause for me if she's allowed to live…"

"In that case we will have to trust that Karibdis and Specter are able to keep that from happening, when you put in a Plan B or Plan C you just clutter up the field and create a conflict that's not needed."

"The only reason there's no Plan B or C right now is because I trust you to do this, Shon. You've been with me since the beginning, you do realize that I hope," Tolan said as though he was finally starting to calm down.

"Absolutely, and I know our assassins will not let up until the job is done. They are ruthlessly effective, and that plays to their advantage. Give them time and we'll see our desired results."

_**Macona Forest:**_

"I think we're going to have to stop," Bowman said. They had been running straight for almost an hour and a half now nonstop and it was starting to show on them. The sky was beginning to lighten up, but the clouds gave the day an ominous gray cast.

"It looks like the weatherman was right for a change," Grant said.

"I think I see a cave entrance off in the distance, we can probably hide out there until we can move again," Ratliff said.

"Not a bad idea, we can rest and if our friends come for us we might be able to cause them to miss us," England said.

Without a word the two made their way towards the cave entrance, perhaps it would keep them safe from both the rain and the people who were after them.

Bowman sat against the cold rock of the cave and for a moment, the danger of the situation they were in began to truly dawn on him. Taking in his surroundings, he felt like one of his early ancestors hiding in a cave from some terrifying creature of pre-history.

Had anything really changed? They were far enough inside to where they would not be so readily seen by anyone who passed by the entrance. He had taken the guard position and was keeping a trained eye for any hostiles as well as making sure Preece and Gordon did not leave his sight from where they were sitting with handcuffs firmly attached. If his arm hurt any, it did not seem to bother the GDD agent.

England and Ratliff were further away having a discussion of some sort but they were keeping their voices low enough to where they could not be heard. Bowman knew there was a part of his mind that wondered just what they were having a talk about, perhaps one day his partner would tell him what was going on.

Bowman's mind envisioned what would happen later today when they were reported as being overdue for arrival. Would they undertake an extensive search for them, after all they had in their custody a member of the Soldiers of the One and a top lieutenant of the Basileus crime syndicate. That mix would leave even the most hardened person feeling more than a little uncomfortable.

Would Jordan Duram come to tell Emma that her husband was missing and had yet to be found? Perhaps he would, but could it be some newly recruited agent who would botch the whole thing and leave his wife feeling as though her husband was probably dead. How would his son Archie take it? He knew he had been neglecting his son lately; the job was taking its toll in ways that most would have expected.

His body ached and he swore he had discovered muscles he was not sure even existed. The sound of raindrops began to resonate from the entrance to the cave. It sounded as though it was going to be one hell of a storm. Could it slow down their pursuers enough to discourage them from furthering the search, or would it play right into some clever trap that had been devices for the sole purpose of ending their lives.

Claire Ratliff and Christopher England had taken to sitting across from one another now, continuing their discussion that had started before the transport had begun. "You're telling me that you were an officer in the Canceron Army when this started?" she asked as though she was still a bit confused.

"It was a simpler time then in some ways, I didn't have the issues I did regarding the Basileus. I was in the Special Forces, I was in Division 20 and we were called the Argonauts. The Basileus had kidnapped several prominent citizens and we were sent in to rescue them and somehow the Basileus knew we were coming," England said as though he were finally telling something he had kept inside for some time.

"What happened then?" Ratliff asked.

"It was a massacre; not many of us made it out of there. I was injured and barely escaped. Later, Carl Tolan learned my identity."

"Why didn't he just kill you if he knew who you were?"

England let out a bitter laugh, "He wanted to send me a message and killing me wouldn't have served that purpose. Instead, he arranged for one of his people to have 'accidentally' hit my fiancée Tiffany with a car."

"Is that what led you to the CGP?"

"I was blacklisted by the Army; it's not good for the career when a Special Forces assignment goes south so spectacularly. I was given the chance to resign honorably and I took it. From there I went to the Canceron Global Police and my goal has stayed the same; do what I could to one day bring down Tolan."

"Is that how you pulled duty at the Canceron Embassy?"

"There was an operation in Iopolis where I took down one of Tolan's money laundering operations. The higher-ups decided that I might cause too much trouble too soon and I was reassigned here to help guard diplomats until things calmed down back home."

"Sounds like you've been banished," Ratliff said almost mockingly.

England shrugged. "It seems that way, but Caprica does have its charm. When I get the chance to go back, I'll finish what I started. Until then, Ambassador Caylen has me at his service."

"I think you'll find that Caprica isn't all that bad, at least arresting and trying Preece can give you some measure of satisfaction."

"Yeah it's something positive, I just hope we're able to turn her to our side before we get…"

"Killed," Ratliff said finishing the sentence. "Since he had your fiancée killed have you had some sort of death wish?"

"No death wish here, I want to live to see the day when the Basileus are taken down. I can only do so much from here but I won't throw my life away for no reason."

"That's what I thought you were going to do back there at the transport van," Ratliff said as she ran a hand through her brown hair.

"It was a calculated risk, but one that I thought was worth taking. You three may have your GDD experience but I thought my Special Forces training might have been more useful."

"It took the stones of a Tauron I give you that," she said before her mouth began to open and create a lazy yawn, "that rain is making me want to sleep."

"Get some sleep; it might come in handy if we're staying here for the time being."

Ian Grant felt the throbbing in his arm worsen, it hurt like a mother frakker but he refused to let it get to him. Bowman was standing guard, keeping an eye out for any of the hostiles they knew were out there just waiting for the chance to end their lives. When the rain died down they could attempt to make it to the river, it was only a matter of time. He was all right with waiting the rain out but he held no illusions about the fact that if they stayed there then they were as good as dead.

"Are you thinking of Emma?" Grant asked with the tired voice of a man who wanted to sleep but refused to give in.

"Her and Archie. I tell you this, Ian, we're in one frakked up mess right now," Bowman said as his eyes scanned the horizon for any sign of movement.

"I wish I knew who was after us. I think the uncertainty is finding a way to make it worse. You'd think we would have the advantage but I'm not sure who is after us."

"We all have our reasons for wanting to get out of here in one piece, but I intend to see who is after us and just who sent them."

Grant shook his head, "It's going to be tough, do you think we can even take them alive…are you sure there's more than one?"

Bowman nodded, "The rate of fire we encountered was too rapid for the work of just one shooter. There's a team out there hunting us, but I just have no idea how large a team we're dealing with."

"Right, I'm going to get some rest. If you hear or see something doesn't hesitate to wake me up," Grant said as he got in a position to get some sleep.

"Sure thing, Ian," Bowman said though he was not sure how helpful his friend would be with an injured arm. He sat there lost in his thoughts when the sound of movement caught his attention. He turned to see Ratliff coming towards him.

"Here I thought you were the calm one, don't tell me you're about to shoot your own partner!" she said teasingly.

"Sorry, Claire, just keeping myself focused," Bowman said as he lowered the weapon.

"What are you thinking?" she asked as she sat against the wall across from where he was.

"As crazy as it may sound, I'm thinking of what I want and what I need," Bowman said as he turned his gaze back to the woods.

"I'll go ahead and ask what it that you want and what is it that you need."

"What I want is to be home in bed with Emma or at home with Archie hearing him talk about planes."

"Doesn't sound too unreasonable, now what is it that you need?"

Bowman looked down at his service weapon, "A bigger gun."

"Very funny, though I think you weren't joking about that."

"I wasn't. We were probably shot at with a high-powered sniper rifle. Whoever is out there is playing with some serious firepower. I'm glad I'm in this with you and Ian, I know I can trust you."

"What about our friend from Canceron?"

"I'm not too sure about him just yet; you've spent more time with him so you can judge him better than I can."

"He's on the level with us, I hear him talk about Canceron and I get the feeling he'd like to go back there even though it seems he'll never be able to."

"I don't know much about the Basileus or what they do on Canceron."

"Well from what Chris has told me you'd better not get too close to them."

"My son will hopefully have the sense to not get involved with that group, and his son, and his son's son, and so forth."

"In that case, here's to hoping you and your descendants won't have any interactions with the Tolan family."

"You've gotten close to England," Bowman said, finally broaching the subject with his partner.

"He's a good guy and he's someone I can talk to. Don't get me wrong, he's cute too but I'm not ready for a relationship or anything like that."

"I had heard you mention a guy you were dating, what happened with that one?"

"He got a job offer in another city and I couldn't…wouldn't go with him. My place is in Caprica City, it's as simple as that."

"One day you'll settle down, Claire," Bowman said with a knowing smile.

"You sound positive about that one. My parents wonder about me sometimes, if you were to ask me my opinion…well I think they're ready to be grandparents. That might explain a lot of things about them wanting to know if I'm dating or not."

Bowman was going to say something, but it was then that he caught a movement in the distance, "Get everyone deeper into the cave and find a place to hide," he whispered.

Without saying a word, Claire made her way to the group and began to rouse them one by one and silently pointing them towards the interior of the cave.

Bowman could see two of them, a man and a woman. They were dressed in some sort of outdoor gear, with an assortment of weaponry that seemed to be suited for either close combat or distance shooting. He noticed the woman had a bag of some sort slung across her shoulder; he recognized a scope that was sticking out of the top where the zipper had come undone. It was not long before he deduced that it was a piece of a sniper rifle. This woman must have been the one who had been shooting at them earlier when the transport van wrecked.

Who they were, he did not know, but Bowman's instincts told him that these were the people who had been chasing after them. It was as though a worst-case scenario was about to unfold.

He began to creep away from the cave's entrance. The couple was getting closer now and the last thing he needed was to be spotted. As it were, they were in a possible trap, if they could elude capture then perhaps they'd have a chance to escape and make their way back to civilization. The group was huddled behind a large rock formation that blocked their view from the entrance. If the couple looked in then they would be unable to see them. If they entered the cave and were curious enough it would end badly.


	5. Chapter 5: On the Run

Chapter Five: On the Run

Agents Jack Bowman, Claire Ratliff, and Ian Grant of the Global Defense Department were huddled in the darkness of the Macona Forest cave along with prisoners Saranna Preece and Maurice Gordon. With them was Christopher England of the Canceron Global Police. It had been an untold amount of time since the prison transport van they were travelling in had been sent crashing off the road. In the time that had passed since the crash they had been chased into the forest by assassins hired by Carl Tolan, the man who ran the Basileus crime syndicate on Canceron.

There was a pair that had come close to the entrance of the cave; the only question was now whether or not they would enter to search for them or just glance inside.

"What do you think?" a man's voice said from nearby.

"I would normally go in there, but I'd rather we head for the river," a woman said.

"Do you think the boss is going to wonder what's taking so long?" he asked.

"Mr. Tolan will just have to wait. We'll get the frakkers in time," she said.

"No doubt…which way should be go when we hit the river?"

"They'll probably head back towards Caprica City so we'll head south. They are probably going to stick to the river so it's just a matter of following them and taking them out one by one," she said as her voice edged closer to the cave's entrance.

"Do you see anything in there?"

A flash of light half-heartedly played along the walls of the cave, "I don't see anything. If they were here they probably left to get to the river."

"Alright, time's wasting now so let's get to the river and finish this."

"You sure you don't want to go in there and explore further?"

"If I were them the last thing I would want is to be drawn into a confined space and end up in a close-quarters firefight. Believe me; it'd end badly for them."

"We're wasting time debating it, I'll let you win this one and we'll head to the river."

"I knew you'd see things my way…"

The voices retreated off into the distance.

The occupants of the cave let out a collective sigh of relief but none dared say a word in nothing more than a hushed whisper.

"What do we do now?" Claire Ratliff asked.

"We start heading north. Hopefully they'll keep making their way south before they realize we didn't go that way and double back," Jack Bowman said.

"I'm with Jack on this one," Ian Grant said as he once again grabbed the place on his arm where he had been shot.

"What if it's a trap?" Christopher England asked.

"What are you talking about?" Maurice Gordon asked as though he could not believe the question was being asked.

"I think what my friend England here is asking is, what if those two are laying a trap for us thinking that we'll think they're gone and come out into the open," Saranna Preece said which drew a nod from England that she had hit on his suspicions.

"Just to give my two cubits on the matter, I think we should chance it. They may come back to this cave to investigate further and I have no desire to give them something to shoot at," Ian Grant said.

Bowman nodded, "I'm with Ian on this one, and we need to get moving towards Oxford. I'm sure we'll run into some kind of civilization along the way."

"I second that," Ratliff said.

"If these two want to stay behind and I'm with them alone…that'd be a fate worse than death," England said.

"It's settled then; we'll sneak out of here and make our way to the river. If either one of our prisoners starts to argue then you have my permission to shut them up," Bowman said and he began to sneak out of the cave in a crouched position.

One by one the group filed out of the cave and made their way slowly towards the river. If all worked out they would have given the assassins the slip.

Caprica City:

The white limousine navigated its way through the congested streets of downtown Caprica City. The driver had put up the privacy screen so that the rear compartment of the vehicle could be soundproof, from what he had heard going on before it was a discussion that could easily go from a tense conversation to a full-blown argument.

In the rear of the vehicle sat Carl Tolan and Timothy Shon. Tolan had sent his mistress back to Canceron on a different transport, the last thing he wanted was for his wife Yvonne to get suspicious about the affair he was having. They had checked out of the hotel and had hoped to make their rendezvous in Auburn before leaving for their home colony. However the early afternoon traffic seemed to have a mind of its own in its regard for Tolan's plans.

Tolan's mobile phone started to ring. He looked at the number and pressed the button to accept the call, "What can I do for you?"

"We have a problem," the man on the other end of the call said.

"Care to explain to me how this is a 'we' issue?" Tolan asked.

"One of your girls came to see me in my office as scheduled…and my wife found us together. She stormed off before I could stop her, if she talks to the press this could be a disaster for me!"

"I told you that having my girls meet you at the Clements House was a bad idea," Tolan said as though it was obvious an 'I told you so' was called for. The Clements House was named after its architect and served as the residence of Mitchell Bates…the President of Canceron.

"Carl you told me when you helped get me elected that I could count on you to keep me in power. A scandal could ruin me!"

"Mitch, I'm going to take care of this for you as long as you agree to do things my way with no questions asked. If my plan works you will not only be untouched by scandal you might even win the next election in a landslide."

"What are you…"

"Remember Mitch, no questions asked. Just know that I am going to take care of this for you and in return you will continue to take care of what I need you to take care when the situation arises."

"Thank you Carl," Bates said and then he ended the call.

"What are you going to do?" Shon asked.

"Well this gives me a diversion from my assassins taking their time eliminating those loose ends, but I intend to assassinate the First Lady of Canceron in the next hour," Tolan said casually as if it was some boring piece of news he was dismissing.

"Who do you need me to call?" Shon asked as he fished out his mobile phone and brought up the contact list.

"See if you can get Speed Demon on this one."

"Let me see what I can do," Shon said as he dialed the number for the assassin codenamed 'Speed Demon'. Each Basileus assassin had a mobile phone that was to be kept near them at all times, it's only purpose was when a call came in for an assignment.

"I've always liked Speed Demon, he gets the work done quickly without all the theatrics some of our guys use," Tolan said. Oliver Stephenson was an accountant who used it as a cover job for who he really was, the assassin known as Speed Demon. He listened as Shon gave the man the name of the target and how quickly she needed to be eliminated.

"He's agreed to the hit. He'll tie up some business in Mangala and then he'll be in Hades to take care of things."

"A loving wife of a handsome president who lost her life to some unknown evil…the sympathy vote alone should be enough to have Bates win reelection easily," Tolan said. He had just ordered the end to the life of Adrianna Bates. Truth was it was a brilliant tactical move, having the President was something any person would love to have. For Carl Tolan it was as close to an aphrodisiac as he could ask for, the power was simply that intoxicating.

Macona Forest:

Two Hours Later:

"What's that up ahead?" Ratliff asked.

Bowman looked and saw a metal security fence, an antiquated security fence by its appearance, and several large pieces of industrial equipment behind it. Beyond that were several large pieces of scrap metal that mingled in with the salvaged equipment waiting its turn to be broken up and processed into items for the consumers of Caprica. These were the cold metallic sentinels of this salvage yard and perhaps they could offer some assistance to the group that had come across them.

"I think we should go ahead and rest for a while, this walking is killing my feet," Preece complained.

"Hey Preece, you may have more than your feet to worry about if you keep whining like that," Ratliff said to the Basileus lawyer who merely glared at her.

"As much as I enjoy a good fight I want the two of you to play nice for now," Bowman cautioned as he got closer to the gate and read the name on the sign: 'Hubbard Salvage Company'.

"Looks like some sort of salvage yard," England said.

"How big do you think it is?" Gordon asked.

"We'll get a better idea of how big it is the closer we get," Grant said.

"Here's what I think," Bowman said as he led the group towards the chain-link security fense, "We split up and follow the fence around to the main entrance.

"I like that idea," England said as he looked through the fence at the red clay surface of the salvage yard. It in some way added a bit of character to the facility.

"How's the arm?" Bowman asked Grant.

"It frakkin hurts but I'll work through it."

"Good, I want you to take England and our two prisoners around the left side of the fence. Claire and I will take the right side and we'll meet up at the main entrance," Bowman said.

"Finally I get a break from Preece," Ratliff said with a sigh of relief.

"One day when this is all over Agent Ratliff you and I will settle our differences," she said.

"Enough you two," Bowman admonished before saying, "take your time making your way around the fence. If all works out we can get our bearings at the entrance without those assassins finding us.

"Fair enough…Grant you can handle Gordon and I'll handle Preece," England said as he gave Saranna Preece a gentle push.

"You brute, why are you trying to manhandle me?" she demanded.

"You're with the Basileus. The chance to push you around a bit is the highlight of my day."

"Alright Jack, we'll see you on the other side," Grant said.

"We'll see you there," Bowman said as he and Ratliff turned and headed towards the right side of the fence.

Twenty-Four Minutes Later:

Rutledge, Caprica, Hubbard Salvage Yard, Main Entrance:

At the entrance to the salvage yard, Bowman and Ratliff were the first ones there and were inspecting the main gate. They had covered ground quickly and were waiting for the rest of their group to join up.

"Do you think they're ok?" Ratliff asked.

"That depends on if they're still being watched or not. We have no idea if there were advanced scouts sent this way in case we made it here," Bowman said as he looked at the guard house to see if there might be a guard sleeping there.

"Where is here exactly?"

Bowman looked up at the sign, "We're in Rutledge."

"What kind of place is this?" Ratliff asked as she looked around the heavily wooded area like it was some foreign planet she had stepped onto.

Bowman shrugged, "The kind you put a large scrap yard into and not have a permanent guard on duty."

"I need to get away from here and get back to civilization," Ratliff exclaimed.

"We will as soon as we can get to safety, we still have no idea who or what we're up against. I think our prisoners are slowing England down."

Ratliff nodded her head in agreement, "I have to wonder if that's what keeping Chris from making here."

"You called him 'Chris', the two of you have quickly become friends," Bowman teased.

"He's a nice guy, and once you got to know him you'd see why he's such an interesting person."

"Right now I'm more worried about staying alive but perhaps when this is over with I'll buy him a drink for helping to keep us alive," Bowman said as he tried the door to see if it was locked.

"Is there a spare key nearby?" Ratliff asked.

"Not sure," Bowman said as he gave up with his attempts at getting the door to open.

"Here, let me check something," Ratliff said as she walked over to where the door was and took stock of the surrounding area.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for something," she said and then she walked to a nearby ledge under a window and squatted down to look under it, "There you are."

"What did you find?"

"Only the spare key for the guard house," she said as she pulled a lockbox out and withdrew a key.

"You're resourceful," he admitted as she slid the key into the lock and opened it. He halfway expected to hear an alarm sound.

It seemed Ratliff was reading his mind, "It must disarm itself when the door is unlocked."

Before Bowman could say anything there was a sound of footsteps coming from the opposite direction of where they came. In case it was trouble both GDD agents readied their guns and cautiously stepped out to see who was there.

"England it took you long enough!" Bowman exclaimed.

"I decided to double back to the backside of the yard where we came upon the gate," England said.

"Why would you do something like that?" Ratliff asked.

"We found a pair of wire cutters on the ground from where it looked like someone had tried to break into the facility. I picked them up and we went back to where we had split up and cut a hole in the fence. If someone comes for us they'll assume that's how we came in and that can be used to our advantage."

"Good thinking, now I want you to see if you can get some sort of signal out here in the middle of nowhere," Bowman said as he went back into the guardhouse and pressed the button to open the main gate.

Hubbard Salvage Yard, Employee Facility:

The heavy smell of machinery grease and rubber tires hung in the air as the group opened the door that led to a lounge type area where the employees of the salvage yard would relax on their downtime. The walls were painted a white that had been dulled by cigarette smoke and did nothing to add to the character of the room. There were various photos that hung on the wall along with some paintings that looked as though they had been purchased second-hand from some cheap hotel.

"I want everyone to sit down, this could be the only chance we get to rest," Bowman said as he as he found a faded black chair that he thought might be comfortable enough.

"You won't hear an argument from me," Grant said as he sat down on the nearby sofa. The rest followed suit.

"I'm hungry," Preece complained.

"I'm sure the workers here have some leftovers, you might want to see what they have in the fridge over there. Might prepare you for what you'll have to eat in prison," Ratliff taunted.

"If anyone has any cubits we can get some snacks out of that vending machine by the fridge," Bowman said.

"I have an idea," England said as he walked over to the vending machine, "In the name of the Global Defense Department I appropriate these snacks."

With that said he took the butt of his gun and smashed the glass of the front of the machine.

"You do realize that you don't have the authority to do that outside of Canceron, you're not even GDD," Bowman said before adding, "However, if you get me one of those Aurora Bars inside that vending machine I'll look the other way."

England reached in and tossed two of the candy bars to Bowman, "There you go, everyone get some food and I'll see if I can get a signal on my phone."

"Be careful if you go outside, there's no telling how many people are pursuing us," Ratliff cautioned.

"I'll make sure I keep an eye out for trouble," England said before he headed out the door.

"He's living dangerously," Grant said as he began to devour the contents of a package of Mosman's Chocolate Chip Cookies.

"He was a part of the Canceron Army's Special Forces, I think he'll be able to handle trouble," Ratliff said.

"Did he tell you what all he was trained in?" Bowman asked.

"Small arms, assault rifles, and sniper rifles," she said.

"That may come in handy if I can get a hold of some of our GDD friends," Bowman said as his mind began to form the basis of the plans he could employ to save their lives.

It was then that the door opened and England came into the room.

"I think I may have a signal here," England exclaimed.

"Glad to have something finally go our way for a change, I think we should go ahead and call Headquarters," Ratliff said.

"I agree with her, perhaps Duram can get reinforcements here in time," Grant added.

"Hold on to that thought," Bowman said before adding, "I have to figure out a plan that will give us a fighting chance when trouble does come our way again."

"You go save us and leave Gordon and me here, or at least just keep me here. This couch may look old and smell like cigarette smoke but it's comfortable and I'm tired of walking," Preece said as she laid her head back and closed her eyes.

"Bad idea, this place could be assaulted easily enough and it'll be like shooting fish in a barrel. We are dealing with professionals here, we need to find a way to keep them on their toes," England added.

"Headquarters will be a bad idea and they're too far away to be of any real use to us. Let's get out of here and head to the center of the yard," Bowman said to the group as he finally got a plan together that he felt would work. More than likely the assassins had realized that they had gone the wrong way and would make their way here. That gave him an advantage that he did not have before. If it were possible they could use the pieces of salvaged steel and equipment to their advantage.

"Hey Jack," Grant said as he walked up to Bowman, "Let me see if I can get Randle and Milone here. They're in Oxford now and I'm sure they can get here with reinforcements."

Bowman thought about it for a moment, "Bringing in the reinforcements would backfire. It would spook the assassins and then they could come back at us later. I'm starting to believe it's only the two of them so we can use that to our advantage. Get your two friends here though, and have them get their hands on at least one sniper rifle."

"You got it," Grant said and he walked over to England to give him Bowman's instructions.

Once the group had employee lounge they made their way to the center of the scrap yard and Bowman took a survey of their surroundings.

"What's the plan?" Ratliff asked.

"There has to be enough places here to hide. I have no doubt the assassins are coming this way to look for us, this time I want us to have the element of surprise. Ian, are your people on the way?"

Grant nodded, "Randle and Milone are on the way and they have a sniper rifle. They estimate forty-five minutes to an hour depending on traffic."

"Excellent! England, how trained are you as a sniper?"

"I did some sniper training when I was with Special Operations back on Canceron. I haven't used those skills in a while but I can manage."

"Good, I want you to set up on the catwalk of that crane to your right," Bowman said and pointed to where a large crane was situated. If his plan worked it would provide England with decent sniper cover.

"Ian, are you going to be able to hide in the trunk of that car over there to your right?" Bowman asked.

Ian looked at it, "Yeah I can pull that off but why am I hiding?"

"Element of surprise, plus you're injured and whether you want to admit it or not you may be an easy target for them."

"You're right, I don't have to like it but I have to admit you're right," Grant conceded.

"Claire, I want you to take up a position near that locomotive engine to your left."

"Got it, now what do you plan to do with our two guests?" she asked as she motioned to where Preece and Gordon stood.

"My initial plan was to handcuff them to one of these structures here in this clearing to serve as bait for our friends."

"You're kidding right? There is no way I'm going to serve as bait!" Preece exclaimed.

"That's Plan A but I can change that, I have made Plans B-E, though we don't want to go to Plan F."

"Why is that?" Preece asked.

"Because you die in Plan F," Bowman said.

"I really like Plan F!" Ratliff said with a great deal of enthusiasm.

"Me too," Gordon added.

"You see those sections of ship over there?" Bowman said as he motioned to where three sections of a ship's hull were sitting rusting away. They probably belonged to some sort of space ship that was being cut up in some nearby scrap yard in orbit of the colony.

"If you can hide us from them then I'm fine with it," Gordon said.

"I'm supposed to be happy about this?" Preece asked bitterly.

"Yes you are because if you're not I can always go with Plan F," Bowman said.

Preece did not respond to him.

"What are you going to be doing throughout all this?" Ratliff asked.

"I'm going to roam around the yard here and lure them to where either England or one of you can get a shot off at them."

"Listen Jack, if you're in need of someone to be reckless then by all means let me do that. You have a wife and child at home who would be devastated if you were lost, not to mention that Emma would kill me if she knew I let you go through with something this risky."

"The good news Ian is that you can now say you vocalized your objections and I'll vouch for that if she were to somehow find out about it," Bowman said before turning to England and asking," England let me have your phone. Ian I need to know if Randle and Milone will call when they get here?"

"Yeah they're going to call and let us know when they get here," Grant said and watched as England handed over his mobile phone to Bowman who pocketed it.

"Alright, all of you get into position. England I want you to stay near the ladder that leads to the top of the crane. When I get the sniper rifle from the agents I'll bring it to you and you can get into position."

Macona Forest:

"Look at these footprints, those bastards were here and we let them get away," Marc Blackburn screamed in disbelief.

"I knew I should have explored that cave when we had the chance," Michelle Sandoval said as she kicked a rock that was lying near her foot.

"They must have waited for us to leave for the river before getting out of here," Blackburn said as he turned his eyes back to the way they had just come.

"What makes you say that?" she asked.

"They don't know that there's no one else at the crash scene so the only logical route would be to head to the river and go north."

"We'll head that way and keep an eye out for them, they could have only gone so far," she said as she turned and started walking back the way they had come.

"Perhaps we should have killed them when we had the chance," Blackburn said.

Sandoval shook her head, "This is still a fun chase for me. We'll get them and kill them, they're just a more dangerous prey than we've had in some time."

Blackburn wanted to say more but thought better of it.

Forty-Seven Minutes Later:

The phone began to buzz. Bowman fished it out of his pocket and accepted the call, "This is Bowman."

"Bowman, this is Bruno Milone. Randle and I are here at the entrance to the yard."

"I'm heading there now; I should see you in a few minutes."

"Copy that Bowman, we'll see you at the entrance gate," Milone said before ending the call.

Part of him wanted to do a sprint to the gates but he would need his energy for later. His goal was going to be to disorient the pair of assassins and throw them off balance. If he was going to do that, and survive, he would need to keep his mind and his body at their best.

He saw the non-issue pickup truck pull up to the gate and for a moment it might be an employee of the salvage yard coming in for a shift. Instead two figured people, whom he presumed to be Milone and Randle, got out and walked to the bed of the truck. Milone pulled out a bag that he was sure contained a sniper rifle.

These two were dressed as though they had stepped out of a GDD video for new hires. They both wore black business suits and had reflective sunglasses on. Milone looked to be about Bowman's height with a military style haircut for his black hair. Milone had her red hair tied back and the expression on her face indicated that she was somewhat excited to be here.

"Bruno Milone," he said as he shook Bowman's hand.

"Andrea Randle," she said as she did the same.

"Jack Bowman, you'll have to forgive me but there's not much time. Did you bring everything we asked for?"

"We have handheld and wireless radios for you as well as a Wadleigh X-3F sniper rifle," Milone said.

"Do you two realize that you stand out like a Panthers fan at a C-Bucs game?" Ratliff said as she walked up to where the two were, "Enlighten me, just how long have the two of you been with the GDD?"

"Three years," Milone said.

"Two for me," Randle said.

"Believe me it shows," Ratliff said and she walked off to join the rest of the group.

"Like the rest of us, being shot and pursued by a pair of assassins can make a person less than sociable," Bowman offered.

"I can understand where she might need to vent her frustrations," Milone replied.

"Yeah, so you were able to get Director Hess to approve this?" Bowman asked as he tried to change the subject. In truth he could understand where Ratliff was coming from. Then again he also was not about to look an armed horse in the mouth. The important thing is that they were able to get the approval of Gene Hess, the Director of the Oxford Bureau of the GDD.

"We got Director Hess to approve this but he says that he wants to know if things go wrong so he can send in the Rapid Deploy Cylons to clean up the situation," Randle said.

"The Director wants to deploy the RDC?" Bowman asked with astonishment.

"Seems they have yet to be used and the GDD is itching to give them a try now that they purchased their first order from Graystone Indsutries," Milone offered as an explanation.

"Right, well let's get to where we need to be if we're going to pull this off," Bowman said before turning to head back to the small opening where he had hoped he would be able to lure the assassins to in order to finish this once and for all.


	6. Chapter 6: Nowhere to Run

**Chapter Six: Nowhere to Run**

**Fifty-One Minutes Later:**

**Hubbard Salvage Yard: **

Bowman was crouched near two junked cars when he heard the footsteps near the fence. It came from where they had just been, and that left no room for doubt as to who it was. He saw the man and woman who had been stalking them climb over the fence, leaving their bag of weapons behind and carrying only pistols of some undetermined make.

"England, this is Bowman, the targets have entered the arena," Bowman whispered into the radio.

"Copy that, ready to fire whenever you get them into view," England whispered back.

Bowman got into position and hoped that the fates would smile upon him this time as they had since the ambush early in the morning. He just needed his body to hold out long enough to make this happen. He had been on the move almost all day with little time to rest. Now the lives of everyone in his group relied on his getting the job done.

'Here we go,' he thought as he grabbed a rock and hurled it into the distance. It struck the window of a car and shattered it. The result was instantaneous, the two assassins turned and headed in that direction with their weapons drawn.

'Yes,' he mentally exclaimed and got in position to hurl the next rock. He launched it and it found its mark on a nearby boiler. Once again, the assassins turned and headed toward the noise.

They were moving closer to the area where his people would be waiting to ambush them, all he had to do was get a few more throws to maneuver them to where he needed them. He reached and grabbed a chunk of metal to throw. He was took a few steps forward and his foot caught on a piece of pipe lying on the ground. He fell onto the ground near a group of pipes that had been stacked up. The pipes fell to the ground with a loud clanking sound.

Cursing his luck, Bowman took off running as he heard the footsteps coming towards him. He turned a corner around an engine and heard the ping of a bullet striking where his head had just been. They had seen him and were in hot pursuit. He ran through a maze of metal structures, not sure of what way he was going but his only concern was that it was away from the killers.

"Bowman do not take a left, one of them is moving to pick you off," England's voice crackled over the radio.

"Copy," Bowman said as he decided his best bet would be to go up instead of the way he was going. There was a locomotive engine next to him and he got his grips and began to climb. Once he was up there, he flattened himself against the warming metal and hoped his profile would not be visible from the ground.

The sun was causing the metal to become hotter than he thought it could be so he quietly got up and without thinking it over, he jumped from the engine to another structure that was nearby. He landed with a somewhat audible thump but he hoped it would not be enough to draw attention to his location.

"They must have heard you, Bowman; they're coming your way. If you run due east you should get to where you need to be," England said.

Not wanting to question it, Bowman jetted in an easterly direction. He heard footsteps in the distance and turned on whatever reserves of adrenaline he had and hoped he had enough. Bullets began to ping the dirt and metal around him. He felt a searing in the right side of his chest and realized one of the bullets must have hit him.

Still he kept going, he leaped into the clearing and turned to face where he had just run from with his service pistol drawn and aimed.

"Come out slowly and I won't shoot you," he shouted.

Slowly two forms came out from the maze of metal with their weapons drawn.

"You're tired and shot, put the gun down and we'll finish you off quickly," the woman said.

"Good effort out there, but you were simply outclassed," the man said.

"Who are you?" Bowman asked.

"Why does it matter?" the woman asked.

"Honey, he's going to die anyway and we'll be out of here before the authorities find him and his friends," the man said and then turned his attention to Bowman, "My name is Marc Blackburn and this is my wife, Michelle Sandoval. We've been hired by Carl Tolan to take out your witnesses. You and your agents are simply collateral damage."

"So it's not personal, it's simply business," Bowman said as he kept his gun aimed.

"Listen, you can't shoot both of us and your friends are going to be hunted down by us once you're done. More importantly you can't shoot both of us at the same time," Sandoval said.

"Jack, I can't get a clear shot at them from where you're standing. If you shoot one of them and run, I can pick the other off from where I'm at," England said through the earpiece.

'Here's to hoping you're a damned good shot, England,' Bowman thought as he surveyed the surroundings and quickly plotted his move.

"You're right," Bowman said and then he aimed and fired at Blackburn, hitting the assassin in the forehead and sending him to the ground. He took off running toward a place to hide and felt a sting on his back as a bullet hit him. He fell to the ground and slid into a metal object. The impact was sufficient to knock him out, with the pain from the bullet it was a sort of blessing.

Michelle Sandoval had gotten one shot off and would have gotten another shot off if not for the fact that England aimed and shot her in the heart with his sniper rifle. She fell to the ground and moved slightly before becoming still. He had seen enough fighting in his time to know that she was dead; it was something a soldier in the field became aware of after time.

He climbed down from the top of the crane and took out his radio, "Everyone it's safe to come out now!"

Slowly everyone came out from their hiding places and made their way towards where Bowman lay. Milone was the first one to reach Bowman.

"England, I need your phone," Milone said and as soon as he had the phone, dialed a number and said, "This is Agent Bruno Milone with the Global Defense Department. I need a medic team to the Hubbard Salvage Yard in Rutledge; we have an agent down."

Ratliff ran over and checked for a pulse; he was still alive!

"Jack," she said to him before adding, "You hang in there. You've come too far to give up now!"

**Oxford Medical Center: **

Jack Bowman's eyes fluttered open and he tried to take in the surroundings. He was in a hospital room, which was a good sign in his opinion. He tried to sit up and felt a sharp pain on the left side of his chest.

"You don't need to be doing that, it took some work to patch you up," a woman said as she walked into the room.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"My name is Dr. Deborah Brewer and you are here at Oxford Medical Center. You were brought here from Hubbard Salvage out near Rutledge."

"How'd you know I woke up?" he asked.

"That would be my doing," Claire Ratliff said as she walked into the room and patted him on the shoulder.

"Should have known it was you, how's Ian?"

"Ian is going to be all right but he's going to have to learn to work one-armed until his other arm heals," Emma Bowman said as she walked into the room and looked at her husband.

"I take it Ian left to tell you that I was awake."

"Very observant," she said.

"Where's England at?" Bowman asked.

"He's down at the Oxford Courthouse giving testimony about the Basileus. It seems Saranna Preece wants to cut a deal to save her life after Carl Tolan tried to have her killed," Ratliff said.

"I still have no idea how they knew where we were; they plotted that ambush a little too well."

"Don't focus on that too much right now. Perhaps one day we'll find out if someone tried to set us up," Ratliff said.

"Hey Claire, let's get some food from the cafeteria. Not all hospital food is considered 'Poison' right, Doc?"

"That's right, Agent Grant. If you and Agent Ratliff will be kind enough to let Agent Bowman get some rest, it would be appreciated," Brewer said as she motioned for them to leave.

"Mrs. Bowman, I'll have the nurse come by in a few minutes to check up on your husband. In the meantime you and your son can stay here and visit."

"Thank you, Doctor Brewer," Emma said and she called for Archie to come into the room.

"Hey, you," Bowman said to his son once he entered the room.

"Can I ask how the other guys look?" Archie asked.

"Archibald Nathaniel Bowman," Emma exclaimed.

"It's ok," Bowman said as he stifled a laugh, "they are probably worse off than I am right now."

"Well, Jack, I know you've been through some tough scrapes in the past but from what Claire and Ian told me it looked like you were in trouble."

"I suppose the fates smiled on me enough to get out of it."

"I'm glad you're going to be fine, just don't go risking your life so recklessly next time. I'll save the whole talk about that subject once you're home," she said as she leaned down to kiss him.

"Believe me when I tell you that right now there's no place I'd rather be than home with the two of you," Bowman said as he took a deep breath and felt thankful that he had made it out in one piece.

**Iopolis, Canceron: **

**Tolan Residence: **

"They're what?" Carl Tolan said as he fought the urge to hurl his phone into the pool below the balcony.

"I'm afraid they were less than successful, they were so unsuccessful that they're dead," Timothy Shon said from his end of the phone call.

"Listen to me, Shon, you are to stay there on Caprica and I don't care how you do it. I want you to eliminate Preece and those GDD agents who eliminated Blackburn and Sandoval. This is something I will not tolerate!" Tolan looked out at the ocean and focused his attention on a sailboat that was passing close to the shore. It helped to reign in his anger enough for him to concentrate on the task at hand. All years as head of the Basileus had taught him not to make rash moves or act on his emotions. That was a surefire way to walk right into a trap of some sort. If there was one thing Carl Tolan had a talent for, it was avoiding traps.

"Understood, Mr. Tolan, I shall start making plans for another hit against the GDD agents. As for Preece, once she's in prison I can get someone on the inside to facilitate her demise," Shon said.

"Make it happen, Shon; you're the only one I can trust with this. Take however long you need," Carl Tolan said as he ended the call and took a calming breath. He walked through the open balcony doors. The breeze blowing off the ocean carried the scent of salt water giving a bright contrast to his dark mood.

Tolan took a copy of the _Iopolis Herald_ off the table. He saw the headline he anticipated: First Lady Adrianna Bates Killed. A roadside bomb had gone off near the vehicle that Adrianna Bates had been travelling in, killing her instantly. No known terrorist group had claimed responsibility.

Tolan smiled at that, it was nice to have something go right after the turn recent events had taken.

That brought his mind back to the failure of Blackburn and Sandoval. This was not how things were supposed to go. Those damn GDD agents may not have realized it but they had committed the grave error of crossing him. That was something for which there had to be consequences. He could not stand there and let the murder of his top two assassins go unpunished, and he fully trusted Timothy Shon to make it happen. There would come a day where he would see to it that something was done to Christopher England, Ian Grant, Claire Ratliff, and Jack Bowman. The order in which they were eliminated did not matter to him. The important thing was for it to happen.

_**A/N: **_

_**This is the last chapter in my first entry into the Global Defense Series started by my friend Tony Wilkins aka: The Wilky Bar Kid. I hope all who have read it have enjoyed it and I do intend to add more stories to this series when time allows. Thank you all for taking the time to read this story, know that it is greatly appreciated. **_

_**-Wes Imlay**_


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